A statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday reveals the arrest and prosecution of a husband and wife, Baba Sule Abubakar Sadiq and Hafsat Kabir Lawal along with two others for impersonating as Katsina governor’s wife to defraud bureau de change operator.
According to the statement signed by Dele Oyewale, Head, Media & Publicity, EFCC, the couple along with Abdullahi Bala and Ladani Akindele colluded among themselves and defrauded their victims through different guises, including impersonating the wife of the Governor of Katsina State, Fatima Dikko Radda.
They were arraigned on six-count charges on Monday, March 9, 2025 but pleaded not guilty.to the charges.
The charge reads, “That you Hafsat Kabir Lawal, Babasule Abubakar Sadiq, Abdullahi Bala, Ladani Akindele Ayodele sometimes in December 2024 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of N89,000,000.00 Eighty Nine Million Naira Only from Aminu Usman which money you caused to be paid in to the Taj Bank plc account number 0009914725 belonging to Abdullahi Bala under the false pretence that you had the sum of $53,300 Fifty three thousand Three Hundred United State Dollars to exchange for the Naira equivalent which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) of the advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act. 2006 punishment under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
EFCC in its statement said “investigations showed that Hafsat contacted the petitioners as one of the wives of the current governor of Katsina State, Malam Dikko Radda. Using that guise, she allegedly obtained the sum of N89,000,000 and another N108,000,000 from a petitioner claiming to have $118,300 (One Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Three Hundred Dollars) to sell to them.
“Further investigations showed that Hafsat’s husband, Sadiq (the second defendant) provided his wife with two sim cards and registered the same with the True Caller as Fatima Dikko Radda. He then allegedly contacted the fourth defendant, Ladani Akindele who was his former colleague at a new generation bank, and asked him to provide him with the contact number of the Chairman of Unity Bank, Hafiz Bashir through whom he got the contact number of the petitioner who is a bureau de change operator.
“Hafsat thereafter contacted the petitioner, Aminu Usman and collected a total sum of N197,750,000 from him, claiming that she had dollar equivalent of the money ($118,300) to offer him.
“The money was said to have been deposited into the bank account of the 3rd defendant, Abdullahi Bala, provided by the first defendant, and the money was allegedly distributed among the four defendants and laundered through various means.”
Meanwhile, the defendants are remanded in a Correctional Facility pending next hearing of the case.