The Nigerian police have withdrawn the N1.3 billion fraud charges against Gbolahan Obanikoro, the son of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and four other defendants. The decision was communicated to the Federal High Court in Lagos through a Notice of Withdrawal, filed under Section 108(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
The notice, dated February 4, 2025, and signed by Chief Superintendent of Police Justin Enang, did not specify the reasons for the withdrawal of the charges, which were initially marked FHC/L/902c/2024. The document simply read: “Take notice that the prosecution hereby withdraws the above-mentioned charge against the defendants herein.”
The defendants, including Obanikoro, Adejare Adegbenro, Balmoral International Limited, M.O.B. Integrated Limited, and DDSS International Company Limited, were initially charged with five counts, including conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretenses, false representation, and fraud.
The police had accused the defendants of conspiring to fraudulently obtain over N1.3 billion from Access Bank (formerly Diamond Bank) between May and September 2013. The alleged scheme involved misrepresenting themselves to the bank’s officers by claiming they needed the funds to import cars from Dubai for resale in Nigeria. The police also accused the defendants of unlawfully converting N1 billion of the bank’s funds for personal use.
The defendants were initially scheduled for arraignment on January 26, 2025, but they were absent from court. Although the prosecutor, Momoh Bello, requested a bench warrant for their arrest, counsel for the fourth defendant, M.O.B. Integrated Limited, Joshua Abel, opposed this request. The judge subsequently rescheduled the arraignment for February 27, 2025.
As of now, the police have officially dropped the charges, and the case may be struck out in the upcoming court hearing.
