The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Thursday, July 3, 2025, arraigned a couple, Aisha Musa and Farouk Anas before Justice A. Isyaka of the Kaduna State High Court, sitting in Kaduna for land fraud.

They were arraigned on two-count charges that border on conspiracy, advance fee fraud and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N10 million.

Count two of the charge reads: “That you Aisha Musa Hamisu and Farouk Anas on or about the 17th of February, 2020 in Kaduna, within the Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira Only) from one Jamilu Buhari under the false pretence that, you bought and possessed the farmland/property situated at Birni Yero along Kaduna-Zaria ExpressWay, Kaduna State, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”

They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, following which prosecution counsel M.O Arumemi asked the court for trial date and for the defendants to be remanded in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Services, while the defence counsel, Frank Akhareghemen, prayed the court to grant the defendants bail.

Justice Isyaka after listening to both counsels, adjourned the case till July 24, 2025 for ruling on the bail application and ordered for the remand of the couple in the custody of Nigeria Correctional Service.

The couple’s road to jail began with a petition by one Aysha Ahmed & Co on behalf of Hajiya Adama Maina, alleging that the defendants fraudulently claimed a property which the petitioner inherited from her late husband and sold the same to one Jamilu Buhari under the false pretence that they bought the property from the petitioner’s stepson, only for the buyer to later discover that the said stepson didn’t have anything to do with the defendants.