Renowned lawyer, Chief Etudo Emefo, has taken over as defence counsel in several cases involving approximately 98 Chinese nationals arraigned before various judges at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on charges related to cybercrime and money laundering.
At the hearing of one of the cases, marked FHC/L/62C/25, which came up today before Justice C.J. Aneke, Chief Etudo formally announced his appearance as the new defence counsel for the defendant.
However, the prosecuting counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. M.R. Bashir, objected to the manner in which Chief Etudo made the announcement, noting that it was done orally without prior formal notification.
In response, Justice Aneke directed Chief Etudo to properly inform the court and the prosecuting counsel in writing, as required by procedure.
It will be recalled that the EFCC had earlier arraigned several Chinese nationals before different judges of the Federal High Court on charges of cybercrime and money laundering.
During today’s proceedings, another EFCC counsel, B.A. Omateno, informed the court that the case in question was one of several in which the defendants had indicated interest in entering a plea bargain.
Following this, Justice Aneke adjourned the matter to June 20, 2025, for further proceedings.
