A Federal High Court sitting in Uyo has scheduled November 1, 2024, for the bail hearing and trial of Josephine Anietie Philip and Effiong Okon, who were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of land fraud and conspiracy.
According to a statement released by the EFCC via X, the defendants were brought before Justice Chigozie M. Onah on September 27, 2024, facing a six-count charge related to criminal conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence, amounting to N24.3 million. Philip allegedly defrauded a buyer, Ndifreke Godwin Friday, of N16.3 million under the guise of selling a piece of land in Uyo, a claim later found to be false.
Effiong Okon, a native doctor, is accused of benefiting from the proceeds of the fraudulent transaction. The EFCC alleges that Okon received N6.5 million from the criminal activities through a bank account linked to a third party, Eno Ime Effiong.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the prosecution counsel, Joshua Abolarin, requested that they be remanded in the Nigerian Correctional Centre. The defence lawyer, C. I. Odo, made an oral bail application, but the court instructed that a formal bail application be filed for consideration.
Justice Onah ordered the defendants to be remanded until the bail hearing and trial scheduled for November 1, 2024.
The EFCC claims that the accused collected over N24 million from two different buyers for the same plot of land in Uyo, without allowing either party to take possession.
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