Court Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Pretending To Be JAMB Boss

(High Court. Photo by Premuim Times)

The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to Arinze Nwogba, the man accused of pretending to be the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

Justice Salim Ibrahim gave the ruling on Thursday and said the offence can be bailed and is not a capital offence.

He set bail at N50 million with two sureties in the same amount.

One surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 14.

Both must live in the FCT, and one of them must live in Asokoro, Maitama or Guzape.

They must also show proof of their income, submit tax clearance certificates for the last two years and provide copies of their National Identification slips, as the defendant must also do.

The court registrar will check all the documents with the prosecution.

Until he meets these conditions, Nwogba will stay at Kuje Correctional Centre. His trial begins on October 19.

Police are prosecuting him on a six count charge.

They say he used the picture of JAMB Registrar Prof. Segun Aina on online and Truecaller, with a phone number, to cheat people of money.

They say this breaks the Cybercrimes Act, 2015 as amended in 2024.

The Registrar had written to the Inspector General of Police to complain that a gang was using his name, picture and number to defraud people on WhatsApp and LinkedIn.

Police said Nwogba, who lives in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, did this with others who are still at large.

They said their team contacted the fraudsters through the contact number advertised on social media.

The fraudsters told victims they wanted to give them a contract and had approval from the Minister of Education.