The Federal High Court sitting in Jos, Plateau State, on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, heard testimony from the first prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Bishop Katung Jonas and Okewole Dayo over an alleged ₦178.8 million fraud involving a cooperative society.
Testifying before Justice Sharon T. Ishaya, the witness, Sulaiman Kwalla, recounted how he and his wife were influenced to invest in the Covenant Fadama Multi-purpose Cooperative Society due to the religious authority and televised sermons of Bishop Jonas, who serves as the society’s chairman. Dayo is the secretary.
Kwalla, led in evidence by EFCC counsel Ibrahim Buba, said he invested ₦200,000 and another ₦100,000 on behalf of his wife, Halima Ibrahim Danyaro, after hearing about the cooperative on Plateau Radio Television Corporation (PRTV), particularly following the bishop’s broadcasts which promised a 10% monthly return.
“Based on the Bishop’s religious standing and the advertised benefits, I believed it was a legitimate opportunity,” he said, adding that he paid into Dadin Kowa Microfinance Bank and received official receipts.
However, he stated that no returns were received after the first month, and subsequent visits to the cooperative’s office revealed other dissatisfied investors. On June 4, 2012, a protest by aggrieved members turned chaotic, prompting police intervention and the detention of Dayo.
Kwalla further told the court that a meeting convened by the police saw Bishop Jonas acknowledge his role in the cooperative and commit to a repayment plan that was never fulfilled. He also accused Jonas of introducing failed recovery schemes, including one involving a company, Lanre Global Concept, and another called Global View, allegedly tied to forex trading.
Following several failed recovery attempts, Kwalla said the investors, through their lawyer, Solomon Dalung, petitioned the EFCC, alleging a wider fraud scheme totaling over ₦8 billion and impacting more than 44,000 people.
He confirmed receiving a refund of his ₦200,000, but said his wife’s ₦100,000 remains unpaid.
Efforts by the prosecution to tender the receipts and petition to the EFCC were challenged by defence counsels C.I. Nwogbo and G.G. Achi, who argued that the receipt issued in the wife’s name could not be admitted since she was not the one testifying. They also claimed the EFCC petition was inadmissible for lacking proper certification under Section 104 of the Evidence Act and the ACJA.
However, the prosecution maintained that the documents were relevant to the fraud charges and that certification was unnecessary for original documents.
Justice Ishaya adjourned the case to Wednesday, July 23, 2025, for ruling on the admissibility of the documents and continuation of trial.
