A Federal High Court in Abuja has remanded a man accused of impersonating the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Segun Aina, at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
The defendant, Arinze Nwogba, was arraigned on a six-count charge filed by the Inspector-General of Police and pleaded not guilty to all the allegations.
Justice Salim Ibrahim ordered his remand after hearing arguments on his bail application and fixed October 7 for ruling on the application. The substantive case will come up for trial on October 19.
According to the police, Nwogba and other suspects still at large allegedly used Aina’s name and photograph on WhatsApp and Truecaller, linked to telephone number 08139433155, to deceive members of the public.
The alleged fraudsters were also said to have advertised the number on LinkedIn and directed prospective victims to communicate with them through WhatsApp.
Police investigators said they engaged the operators of the number during the investigation and were allegedly told that the fake JAMB boss had secured a contract for the supply of 200 HP laptops under a digitisation programme.
The suspect allegedly claimed that the Federal Ministry of Education had approved the deal and introduced another person, identified as Dr Stephen Igwe, as his personal assistant.
The prosecution further alleged that the fraudsters demanded an initial N900,000 from a prospective victim and later requested another N3 million, purportedly for officials of the ministry.
An Access Bank account bearing the name Edeh Chimezie Benedict was allegedly supplied for the payment.
The case reportedly began after Prof. Aina petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over the alleged unauthorised use of his name, photographs and identity by suspected fraudsters.
Nwogba was subsequently arrested in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, while the police said an alleged accomplice, Nnabuife Nwekpa, remained at large.
His lawyer, Christian Ejike, urged the court to grant him bail, but the prosecution opposed the application, arguing that he could evade trial if released.
Justice Ibrahim consequently ordered that Nwogba remain in custody pending the October 7 ruling on his bail application.
