Court Remands Ex-Convict After Pleading Guilty To N12m Theft

Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has remanded an ex-convict, Gabriel Oluokun, in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service after he pleaded guilty to stealing N12 million.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Oluokun on a one-count charge of theft connected to suspected proceeds of bank fraud.

The EFCC had accused the defendant of allegedly conspiring with accomplices still at large in 2025 to conceal and disguise the origin of N12,000,000 deposited into his bank account.

The anti-graft agency also alleged that the money was later transferred and converted to cash through Point of Sale (POS) agents.

The Commission had also told the court that the N12 million was part of a total of N3,091,441,849 believed to have been stolen from accounts at a new generation bank through unauthorised access and fraudulent transactions using the bank’s mobile banking applications.

When the amended charge was read, Adekola pleaded guilty.

In response to the plea, prosecutor Mohammed Bashir urged the court to adjourn the case for a review of the facts and sentencing.

Bashir also asked the judge to remand the defendant to a correctional facility until sentencing.

After listening to the lawyer, Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter to March 17 for the review of the facts of the case and sentencing, and also ordered that the defendant be kept in a correctional centre.

The EFCC had revealed that Adekola is a repeat offender, having been convicted previously in 2020.

According to the EFCC, he was convicted on July 23, 2020, by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, and sentenced to 20 years for defrauding a Taiwanese national of $22,300.

His earlier conviction was based on a six-count amended charge issued by the Ibadan zonal directorate of the EFCC, alleging the offence of obtaining money by false pretence.