A self-professed Chief of Army Staff, Bolarinwa Abiodun, has opened his defence before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
Bolarinwa was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a 13-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, forgery of documents, and possession of documents containing false pretence to the tune of N266,500,000.
He was first arraigned on April 11, 2022 and he pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges.
The prosecution had on June 16, 2022 closed its case. After which the defence applied to the court for the recall of the prosecution’s first witness, Bamidele Safiriyu, who is also the complainant.
At today’s proceeding, the prosecution presented the first witness as requested for by the defence counsel, Otunba Ogunleye, who sought to point out contradiction in the statement made to the EFCC by the first prosecution witness, Bamidele Safiriyu, with regards to the date he first met the defendant.
The defence sought to tender the statement and it was admitted in evidence as Exhibit X.
Under cross-examination, the witness, told the court that he got to know the defendant in 2017.
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He testified further that Bolarinwa told him that he will not be using the number to call him, claiming that the number was being tracked by the Nigerian Army, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo who he claimed was his father.
He also stated that the defendant claimed that he has another number that he will be using to call him from time to time.
Thereafter the case was adjourned till June 28, 2022 for continuation of defence.
The defendant, whose bail was on April 25, 2022 refused by the court as he was ruled to constitute a flight-risk, is being prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC on offences contrary to Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act 2006; Section 363 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 and Section 6 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act No 14 of 2006, respectively.
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One of the counts reads: “Bolarinwa Oluwasegun Abiodun, between 15th June, 2020 and 31st December 2020 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud and whilst holding yourself out as a General in the Nigerian Army, obtained the sum of N111,400,000 from Kodef Clearing Resources Limited, under the pretence that the sum represented part of the amount expended to “press and process” your incoming appointment by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as the CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF of the Nigerian Army, which pretence you knew to be false.”
Another count reads: “Bolarinwa Oluwasegun Abiodun, sometime in May 2020 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, knowingly forged LETTER OF APPOINTMENT AS CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF dated 20th May 2020 and purported the said document to have emanated from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which document you know to be false.”
