Court convicts Fake Lawyer For Forged NBA Seal, Impersonation

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and fined a 55-year-old man, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for impersonating a authorized practitioner and utilizing a cast Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal bearing one other lawyer’s Supreme Court enrolment quantity.

Justice A.M. Lawal sentenced Anoruo to a complete superb of N270,000 after he pleaded responsible to 2 counts of impersonation and using a counterfeit NBA seal.

The court docket additionally ordered the forfeiture of the solid seal and authorized practitioner’s apparel recovered from him to the Federal Government by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to an EFCC assertion issued by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, Anoruo operated a authorized and academic consultancy in Ikorodu, Lagos State, regardless of not having attended the Nigerian Law School or been referred to as to the Nigerian Bar.

The fee stated investigations revealed that Anoruo used the counterfeit NBA seal on a petition submitted to the EFCC on behalf of his shoppers towards the administration of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited.

The petition, dated September 22, 2025, and a subsequent letter withdrawing it, dated March 5, 2026, each carried the solid seal.

Anoruo reportedly admitted acquiring the seal from an undisclosed enterprise centre in Lagos.

The EFCC stated the case got here to its consideration after receiving a petition dated April 14, 2026, from a authorized practitioner, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, who accused Anoruo of submitting a petition towards him and his regulation agency whereas falsely presenting himself as a lawyer.

During the investigation, the fee found that the Supreme Court enrolment quantity, SCN037400, printed on the seal belonged to a different authorized practitioner.

The 55-year-old reportedly instructed investigators that he obtained a regulation diploma from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018 by night lessons however by no means attended the Nigerian Law School.

He was arrested by EFCC operatives on April 20, 2026, and subsequently arraigned by the fee’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 on two counts beneath the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

One of the fees accused him of fraudulently utilizing a counterfeit seal bearing the inscription “Nigerian Bar Association” with the intention that or not it’s accepted as real.

The second depend accused him of falsely representing himself to the EFCC as a duly licensed authorized practitioner and utilizing an NBA seal bearing one other lawyer’s enrolment quantity.

Anoruo pleaded responsible to each expenses.

During the proceedings, EFCC investigating officer Umar Faruk Ahmad instructed the court docket that the defendant earned N7.5 million from the authorized transient in query.

Of that quantity, Anoruo reportedly paid N1.5 million to a professional lawyer to deal with the matter on his behalf.

The investigating officer additionally instructed the court docket that Anoruo appeared on the EFCC workplace carrying authorized practitioner’s apparel when he honoured the fee’s invitation.

A subsequent search of his residence led to the restoration of the counterfeit NBA seal, whereas the apparel he wore throughout interrogation was additionally introduced as proof.

The prosecution tendered a number of displays, together with the petition by Olumide-Fusika, Anoruo’s extra-judicial assertion, correspondence between the EFCC and the Body of Benchers and Supreme Court of Nigeria, the recovered apparel, the solid seal and proof of a N300,000 financial institution draft paid by the defendant into the fee’s restoration account.

Defence counsel, G.E. Demkemefa, didn’t object to the admissibility of the displays, which Justice Lawal admitted and marked as Exhibits 1 to 9.

During his plea for leniency, Anoruo instructed the court docket that he paid N2.5 million to the person who launched the authorized transient to him and N1.5 million to the lawyer he engaged to deal with the case.

The prosecution counsel, Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, urged the court docket to convict and sentence him in accordance together with his responsible plea. She additionally sought an order forfeiting the displays to the Federal Government.

Delivering judgment, Justice Lawal stated the defendant was convicted on each counts in view of his responsible plea.

Demkemefa subsequently urged the court docket to mood justice with mercy, describing Anoruo as a first-time offender who had not wasted the time of the EFCC or the court docket.

The defence counsel additionally stated the defendant was the breadwinner of his household, comprising his spouse and 5 youngsters, and requested the court docket to impose a superb as a substitute of a custodial sentence.