The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Nathaniel Makama Zabrang and Husain Umar Bawa before Justice M.J. Zubairu of the Kaduna State High Court on charges of internet fraud.
The defendants are being prosecuted on separate charges bordering on impersonation and obtaining money under false pretence.
One of the charges against Zabrang reads, “That you, Nathaniel Makama Zabrang, (a.k.a Alicia Smith), male, between January and June, 2025 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, impersonated one Alicia Smith (a citizen of the United States of America) on Instagram and fraudulently obtained the sum of N10,019,028 (Ten Million, Nineteen Thousand and Twenty-Eight Naira) from multiple unsuspecting victims, thereby committing an offense contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.”
Bawa, on his part, is accused as follows: “That you, Husain Umar Bawa (a.k.a Bernard Lewis), male, between January and December, 2023 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, impersonated Bernard Lewis (a citizen of the United States of America) on Facebook and obtained the sum of N8,613,989 (Eight Million, Six Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty-Nine Naira) from one Kathleen Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.”
Both defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
Prosecuting counsel, K.S. Ogunlade, subsequently requested the court to fix a date for trial and to remand the defendants in the Nigeria Correctional Centre (NCC), Kaduna.
Justice Zubairu adjourned the matter to August 11, 2025, for ruling on their bail applications and ordered that both defendants be remanded in Kaduna prison pending the outcome.
The EFCC had earlier apprehended the duo following credible intelligence linking them to online fraudulent activities in Kaduna Metropolis.
