CYRIACUS IZUEKWE
The Nigeria Police has arraigned a 24-year-old man, Durosimi Temidayo Oluwasegun, before the Ikeja Magisterial District in Lagos over an alleged Federal Government scholarship fraud involving the sum of Nine Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand Naira (N925,000).
The defendant was arraigned before Magistrate L.A Owolabi on a four-count charge marked MK/5/41126/2026 – Commissioner of Police Vs Durosimi Temidayo Oluwasegun, filed by the Commander of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), CSP Jejeloye Shola. The prosecution was led by SP Josephine Ihkayere.
According to the charge sheet presented before the court, the defendant was alleged to have on the 9th of July, 2026, at about 1400hrs at the Government Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, conducted himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace. The Police said the alleged conduct is punishable under Section 168 (1) (d) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
The Police further alleged that on the same date, time and place, the defendant obtained the accumulated sum of N925,000 from one Olomofe Afolasade under the pretence of securing a Federal Government scholarship to study abroad, a representation which the Police alleged he knew to be false. The offence was said to be punishable under Section 314 (1) (2) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State. It was also alleged that the defendant stole the said sum of N925,000 belonging to the complainant, an offence punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.
In the fourth count, the prosecution alleged that the defendant forged a scholarship approval certificate purportedly issued by the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, an offence punishable under Section 365 (3) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.
When the charges were read to him, the defendant pleaded not guilty to all the counts.
Following his plea, the prosecutor, SP Josephine Ihkayere, asked the court for a date for trial.
However, Magistrate L.A Owolabi, in his ruling, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. The court ordered that the sureties must show evidence of means of livelihood and evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government. The Magistrate also directed that the sureties must be residents within the jurisdiction of the court and must provide valid means of identification.
The court further ordered that the defendant be remanded in custody at the Correctional Center at Kirikiri Town, Lagos, pending the perfection of his bail conditions. The case was adjourned to a later date for mention and trial.
The matter, according to Police sources, stemmed from a complaint lodged by the nominal complainant, Olomofe Afolasade, who alleged that she paid the sum of N925,000 to the defendant after he promised to facilitate a Federal Government scholarship for her to study abroad, only to discover that the scholarship approval letter presented to her was allegedly forged and that no such scholarship existed.
The Police said upon receipt of the complaint, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad commenced investigation which led to the arrest of the defendant and his subsequent arraignment before the court.
It is important to note that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law and all allegations contained in the charge sheet are yet to be proved. The court has not made any pronouncement on the guilt or otherwise of the defendant as trial is yet to commence.