The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of four men accused of defrauding Opay Digital Services Ltd of N150.5 million after they failed to appear for trial.
Justice Salim Ibrahim issued the bench warrant on Friday following an oral application by prosecution counsel, John Ijagbemi, under Section 394 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
The judge directed the Inspector-General of Police to produce the defendants in court at the next adjourned date.
The court also ordered its Chief Registrar to write to the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and other relevant legal bodies over the conduct of the defendants’ lawyer, U.M. Umar.
The defendants are Isah Ladan, Nasiru Umar, Umar Mohammed and Abubakar Ibrahim.
The Inspector-General of Police filed the four-count charge, marked FHC/ABJURER/CR/398/2026, on July 8 through Ijagbemi of the Directorate of Legal Services.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants and others still at large committed offences bordering on identity theft, impersonation and computer-related fraud in Bida, Niger State, between November and December 2025.
In one of the counts, the prosecution accused the defendants of defrauding Opay Digital Services Ltd of N150,538,000 by allegedly impersonating agents of the company and obtaining the identities of innocent persons through their National Identity Cards and SIM cards.
The prosecution said the alleged offence was punishable under Section 14(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.
Another count accused the defendants of unlawfully entering the data of innocent persons into the Opay system to obtain economic benefits for themselves.
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The prosecution said the offence was punishable under Section 24(2)(a)(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act.
When the case came up on Friday, neither the defendants nor their lawyer was present in court.
Ijagbemi told the court that the defendants and their lawyer had also failed to proceed with the arraignment when the case was listed on Wednesday.
He said the defence had asked the court to stand the matter down after reporting that a vehicle carrying the defendants from Niger State had developed a problem.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to Friday, but the defendants and their lawyer again failed to appear and gave no reason for their absence.
Justice Ibrahim recalled that he had advised Umar, when he arrived late on the previous hearing date, to arrange accommodation in Abuja because the defendants did not reside in the Federal Capital Territory.
The judge said Umar had responded that Niger State was about an hour’s drive from Abuja.
Justice Ibrahim questioned why the defendants were absent despite the court’s earlier directive and the short distance between Abuja and Niger State.
After hearing the prosecution’s oral application, the judge granted the request and ordered the arrest of the four defendants.
The case was adjourned to a later date for the defendants to be produced before the court.
NAN
