EFCC ARRAIGNS MAN OVER ALLEGED N56.4M HAJJ PILGRIMAGE FRAUD IN IBADAN

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a man, Lawal Babale Musa, before the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan, over an alleged N56.49 million Hajj pilgrimage fraud.

Musa was arraigned on Thursday before Justice Olusola Adetujoye on a 57-count charge bordering on stealing by conversion, forgery and uttering of documents.

The EFCC disclosed this in a statement posted on its official X account on Friday.

According to the anti-graft agency, Musa allegedly approached Ibrahim Shuaibu, claiming to be an official of the Kaduna State Government who could facilitate the 2023 Hajj pilgrimage for intending pilgrims.

The commission said Shuaibu subsequently informed several friends involved in cattle breeding and rearing in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State about the offer.

The individuals, identified as Jibril Adamu, Suleiman Aminatu, Musa Haruna, Suleiman N. Abdullahi, Audu Bello, Yusuf Umaru, Saidu Musa, Idris Suleiman, Musa Yunusa and Usman Haruna, allegedly paid a combined N56,491,000 to Shuaibu, who subsequently transferred the money to Musa for the purported Hajj arrangements.

The EFCC alleged that none of the intending pilgrims eventually travelled to Saudi Arabia for the 2023 Hajj because Musa allegedly failed to fulfil his promise.

One of the charges alleged that Musa, between November 2, 2022 and July 22, 2024, in Ibadan, converted the N56,491,000 meant for the Hajj pilgrimage to his personal use, contrary to the Criminal Code Law of Oyo State.

Another count accused him of allegedly forging a Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency receipt in the name of Jibril Adamu, with the intention that it be acted upon as genuine.

He was also accused of allegedly altering another Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency receipt to Adamu, purportedly knowing it to be false.

Musa, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were read to him.

Following his plea, EFCC counsel, Bashir Shamsuddeen, urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility and fix a date for trial.

Defence counsel, Kehinde Adegbola, informed the court that he had filed a bail application seeking the defendant’s release on liberal terms.

Justice Adetujoye subsequently adjourned the case until August 17, 2026, for hearing of the bail application and ordered that Musa be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre pending the hearing.

The allegations are yet to be proved in court, and the defendant remains presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty by a court of law.