The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has initiated legal proceedings against Sunday Ekele, who stands accused of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation amounting to N2,930,029 (Two Million Nine Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Twenty-Nine Naira only). Ekele was formally arraigned on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, before Justice Darius Khobo at the Kaduna State High Court.
The charges brought against Ekele are centered on a singular count of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation. The charge alleges that Ekele, in January 2020 in Kaduna, within the Kaduna Judicial Division of the High Court, was entrusted with property valued at N2,930,029 by one Ayobami Oyeleye for the supply of pharmaceutical products. It is further alleged that Ekele sold the said products and dishonestly misappropriated the proceeds for personal use, thereby violating the terms of a legal contract related to the sum. The offense, as stipulated in Section 293 of the Penal Code Law of Kaduna State, is punishable under the same section.
During the arraignment, Ekele entered a plea of not guilty to the charges presented before him. Subsequently, the prosecution counsel, E.K. Garba, applied for a trial date and requested that the defendant be remanded in the Kaduna Correctional Centre. In response, the defendant’s counsel, Usman Abdullahi, appealed to the court for bail on behalf of his client.
After hearing arguments from both counsels, Justice Khobo granted bail to the defendant in the sum of Two Million Naira only, with a requirement for a surety in an equivalent amount. The surety is mandated to possess property in Kaduna, accompanied by a Certificate of Occupancy, which must be verified by the court registrar. The court adjourned the matter to January 25, 2024, for a substantive hearing.
Ekele’s arrest stemmed from allegations made by a petitioner who claimed that in January 2020, the defendant had entered into an agreement to market pharmaceutical products worth N2,930,029 but failed to remit payment after the products were supplied. Efforts to recover the sum or the products allegedly proved futile.
