A federal high court in Lagos has denied bail to Aminah Momoh Orimoloye, a UK-based Nigerian agripreneur, who was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N500 million fraud. Momoh Orimoloye, the Coordinator of the Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth in Livestock Agriculture (EEWYLA) and founder of Oriyon International Limited, had filed a lawsuit to compel the EFCC to release her.
Through her lawyer, Mrs. Abimbola Akeredolu (SAN), she urged the court to either grant her bail pending the conclusion of investigations or order the EFCC to charge her to court without further delay. She argued that her detention since August 5, 2025, without being arraigned, violated her fundamental rights. In a 13-paragraph affidavit, her lawyers alleged that she was held in “deplorable conditions” and was subjected to “mental harassment, intimidation, and denial of adequate medical care.” They also faulted the EFCC’s bail conditions, which required two sureties who had to be civil service directors and owners of landed property in Lagos State. According to her lawyers, the EFCC rejected Deputy Registrars of higher institutions whom she presented as sureties.
The EFCC, however, opposed the application. In a counter-affidavit, investigator John Justice alleged that Aminah Momoh Orimoloye was involved in a foreign exchange scam exceeding N1.6 billion, with N500 million allegedly diverted from a complainant. The agency maintained that she posed a flight risk since she lives abroad and that she had presented unreliable sureties, some of whom were caught providing false information. The EFCC asserted that, contrary to her claims, she was held under humane conditions and was allowed medical checks, to exchange foreign currency, and to receive food from visitors.
In his ruling, Justice Kakaki held that the EFCC had not breached her rights, as she had already been granted administrative bail but had failed to meet its terms. “Failure of the applicant to present reliable sureties should not be visited on the EFCC. Having been granted bail, the proper thing for her is to fulfill the terms,” the judge ruled. The court dismissed her motion, stating, “The present application, as constituted, is hereby refused.”
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