The Federal High Court in Abuja has sent Arinze Nwogba to prison for allegedly pretending to be the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Segun Aina.
Professor Aina, who is a computer engineering expert, was made the JAMB registrar by President Bola Tinubu in May. He took over from Is-haq Oloyede, who held the position for 10 years.
On Friday, Judge Salim Ibrahim ordered that Mr Nwogba be kept at Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja while waiting for a decision on his bail application.
The judge set 7 October for the ruling and pushed the case to 19 October for the trial to start.
The Nigerian police have charged Mr Nwogba with six counts. They accuse him and others who are still on the run of impersonating Mr Aina. They allegedly used his name and photo on WhatsApp and Truecaller.
The police claim that Mr Nwogba used phone number 08139433155 to pretend to be the JAMB registrar. They say he aimed to gain money from this act.
These alleged offences go against Section 22(3)(a), (b) and (4) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, which was updated in 2024. Mr Nwogba has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
Bail Application
After Mr Nwogba made his plea, police lawyer Nonso Eleodimuo asked the court to set a date for the trial to begin.
Defence lawyer Christian Ejike did not argue against the request for a trial date. He told the court that he had filed a bail application on 23 September.
Mr Ejike said the prosecution has seen this bail application and responded to it. Mr Eleodimuo confirmed that they received the application and that a counter-affidavit dated 2 October had been filed.
When Mr Ejike presented the bail application, he asked the court to grant Mr Nwogba bail on easy terms. But Mr Eleodimuo asked the court to reject the bail request.
Gregory Woje, a clerk at the Directorate of Legal Services, Force Headquarters, Abuja, swore to the counter-affidavit against the bail. He said the police found the main points of the defendant’s application to be unfounded and irrelevant to the case.
He warned that if bail was granted, Mr Nwogba might skip the trial and not show up. "If the court is considering granting bail, it should do so with conditions that ensure the defendant attends his trial," Mr Woje stated.
He added that the court has the power to set bail conditions, not the defendant. He said the police are ready to handle the case quickly because all the evidence and witnesses are prepared for trial.
He emphasized that if Mr Nwogba got bail and ran away, it would disrupt the case and harm the prosecution.
Alleged Impersonation
The prosecution’s case summary shows that the charges follow a complaint from the JAMB registrar to the Inspector-General of Police.
Mr Aina reported suspicious activities by criminal groups that allegedly registered and used phone number 08139433155, along with his name and pictures, without his consent.
The police claim the suspects used the registrar's identity to trick the public. They also said the suspects posted the phone number on LinkedIn and told people to message them on WhatsApp.
Investigators later contacted the suspects through the WhatsApp number that had Mr Aina’s photo as the profile picture. They said the Truecaller profile of this number also showed Mr Aina’s image. The WhatsApp number was promoted on LinkedIn as the suspects offered fake contracts to unsuspecting people.
The prosecution said the suspects claimed they had approval from the Minister of Education to supply 200 HP laptops for the ministry’s digitisation plans.
They also gave the contact of a supposed personal assistant named Dr Stephen Igwe, who was said to handle arrangements for the contract.
The suspects asked for N900,000 as a “handshake” and another N3 million for the Permanent Secretary and Minister of Education. They provided an Access Bank account under the name Edeh Chimezie Benedict for the payment.
The police later arrested Mr Nwogba in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. They claim he told them that the account details belonged to his late nephew, who passed away in April 2026 and was buried on 31 July.
The police also said he admitted sending the account details to his cousin, Nnabuife Nwekpa from Onitsha, Anambra State, for the alleged fraudulent activities.
They stated that Mr Nwekpa, who is accused of being the fake JAMB registrar, is still on the run, and efforts are ongoing to catch him.
Judge Ibrahim heard the arguments on the bail application and set 7 October for a ruling and 19 October to start the trial.
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