Friday, July 3, 2026 - The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned a woman, Mbah Chidinma Sophina, before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu, on a three-count charge bordering on possession of fraudulent documents, forgery and identity theft.
Count one of the charges reads
“That you,
Mbah Chidinma Sophina, sometime between 1st of January, 2026 to 30th of April,
2026 at Enugu, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria
with intent to defraud, had in your possession, a document asserting that you
are Florence-Gweh Togba Doaryenneh, which to your knowledge contained a false
pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 of the Advance
Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under
Section 6 1 (3) of the same Act”.
Count two reads
“That you,
Mbah Chidinma Sophina, sometime between 1st October, 2023 to 25th October, 2023
at Enugu, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, with
intent to defraud, knowingly forged a Last Minute Healthcare card with number
03332408969 bearing the name of Florence-Gweh Togba Doaryenneh which you knew
was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (2) (a) of the
Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, 2004 and punishable under the same Section
of the Act”.
When the charges were read to her, she pleaded not guilty.
In view of her plea, counsel to the EFCC, Assistant
Superintendent of the EFCC, ASE II Ahmad Yusuf Abdullahi prayed the court for a
trial date to enable the prosecution prove its case and for the defendant to be
remanded at the facility of the Nigerian Correctional Service, NCoS, Enugu.
The defence counsel, M. I. Odo, prayed the court for a short
date to enable him to file a bail application for the defendant.
Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo thereafter adjourned the matter to
November 19, 2026 for trial and remanded the defendant at the facility of the
NCoS.
Meanwhile,the defendant is equally being prosecuted by the
Commission, before Justice C. A. Ogbuabor of the Enugu State High Court, Enugu
on a two-count charge bordering on stealing and obtaining by false pretence to
the tune of N19, 084, 000 (Nineteen Million, Eighty-Four Thousand Naira).
She was granted bail after pleading “not guilty” to the
charges, and the matter was adjourned to September 18, 2026 for trial.
The defendant was arrested following claims of a petitioner
that sometime in 2024, he informed the defendant, whom he met on Tik-Tok, of
his intention to relocate to the United Kingdom through a Certificate of
Sponsorship (CoS) in order to work as a caregiver. After paying the said sum to
the defendant for the procuring of a CoS, the defendant allegedly failed to
deliver documents as promised to him, before blocking him.
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