A Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has dismissed a no-case submission filed by Dr. John Abebe and Inducon Nigeria Ltd in an alleged N120 million fraud case.
Dr. Abebe, alongside Kamoru Oladimeji and Inducon Nigeria Ltd, is facing a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy to steal, stealing, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence, obtaining by false pretence and obtaining execution of security by false pretence.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe held that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence linking the defendants to the allegations, thereby requiring them to open their defence.
The judge explained that at the stage of a no-case submission, the court only determines whether the prosecution has produced legally admissible evidence connecting the defendants to the alleged offences, not whether the evidence is sufficient to secure a conviction.
Justice Abike-Fadipe noted that evidence presented by the prosecution indicated that the defendants allegedly obtained about N120 million from Arsenal Technologies Ltd by pledging a property as collateral which had previously been pledged to a bank.
According to the court, the evidence, if believed, requires an explanation from the defendants.
The judge consequently dismissed the no-case submission and ordered them to enter their defence.
The defendants were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on September 19, 2022.During the trial, which began in 2022, EFCC counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, called four witnesses before closing the prosecution’s case on May 15, 2025.
Following the close of the prosecution’s case, the defence filed a no-case submission on October 14, 2025, arguing that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case linking them to the alleged offences.
The EFCC alleged that the defendants conspired on June 4, 2013, in Lagos to steal N120 million belonging to Arsenal Technologies Ltd.
The anti-graft agency further alleged that the defendants obtained the sum by falsely representing that a property located at 9, Magbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos, which they pledged as collateral, was unencumbered, a claim the prosecution said they knew to be false.
According to the EFCC, the alleged offences contravene Sections 314 and 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015, as well as the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.Justice Abike-Fadipe adjourned the case until May 28 for the defendants to open their defence.
Written by Wahab Akinlade