A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the remand of a freight agent, Basil Nwolisa, in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services after he pleaded not guilty to fraud charges totalling N58.75 million.
Presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala, made the order following Nwolisa’s arraignment on a three-count charge of obtaining by false pretence, money laundering and theft, filed by the Nigeria Police Force Zone 2 Command, Onikan.
Prosecuting counsel, CSP Omonyimenle Eliot Ijie, told the court that the defendant, alongside others still at large, allegedly committed the offences in December 2024. He said Nwolisa fraudulently obtained N54.955 million from one Chinedu Emmanuel Obi under the pretence of supplying two 40-foot containers through a Customs auction, a claim that proved false.
The prosecutor further alleged that the defendant converted and stole an additional N3.805 million from the proceeds of the transaction.
Nwolisa denied all the charges. Following his plea, the prosecution sought a trial date and asked the court to remand the defendant in correctional custody. Defence counsel Abdulmalik urged the court to grant a short adjournment to enable the filing of a bail application and requested that his client be held in police custody in the interim, but the court rejected the application.
Justice Kala consequently ordered Nwolisa’s remand in the Nigerian Correctional Services and adjourned the case until 17 March for the hearing of his bail application.