RismadarVoice Reporters
February 28, 2026
Justice O. M. Anyachebelu of the Anambra State High Court sitting in Awka has convicted and sentenced the Managing Director of Orient Petroleum Resources Plc, Engineer Nnaemeka Nwawka, and the Registered Trustees of Sage Nebefeife Foundation to 14 years imprisonment each for offences bordering on stealing, conversion and gratification.
The defendants were convicted on a 10-count charge after the court found them guilty of fraud involving billions of naira.
One of the counts stated that Nwawka, Jude Anniekwe Cyril and the Registered Trustees of Sage Nebefeife Foundation, between April 23 and December 21, 2012, fraudulently converted the sum of ₦82,856,934 transferred from the account of Vhelbherg International Limited domiciled in Standard Chartered Bank into the account of Sage Nebefeife Foundation domiciled in First Bank.
Another count alleged that between January 8 and May 24, 2013, the defendants fraudulently converted ₦29,620,733 from the same company account into the foundation’s account.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them, prompting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel, Victor Ukagwu, to proceed to full trial. The trial lasted 10 years.
During the proceedings, the EFCC called four witnesses, tendered several documentary exhibits marked P1 to P24.
The prosecution presented evidence alleging that Nwawka facilitated the award of contracts from Orient Petroleum Resources Plc to companies linked to his associates, after which funds paid to those companies were allegedly funneled back to him through the Sage Nebefeife Foundation. The court heard that the funds were subsequently withdrawn and used for personal purposes.
Counsel to the first and third defendants, U. N. Udechukwu, SAN, and counsel to the second defendant, E.S.C. Obiora, SAN, offered defences on behalf of their clients, particularly regarding the handling of the contracts. However, Justice Anyachebelu held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted two of the defendants accordingly.
The court sentenced Nwawka and the Sage Nebefeife Foundation to 14 years imprisonment each. The court also ordered them to refund ₦140,900,000 to Orient Petroleum Resources Plc.
The case stemmed from a petition by an investor in the company, Chief Cletus Ibeto, who alleged that he invested ₦25 billion in Orient Petroleum Resources Plc but that substantial sums were diverted through the award of suspicious contracts to companies linked to the defendant, with funds allegedly routed back through the foundation.
