Aminah Momoh Orimoloye, a UK-based Nigerian agripreneur arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged ₦500 million fraud has been denied bail by the federal high court, Lagos.
Momoh-Orimoloye, Coordinator of the Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth in Livestock Agriculture (EEWYLA) and founder of Oriyon International Limited, had filed suit FHC/L/1741/2025 seeking an order to compel the EFCC to release her.
Through her counsel, Mrs. Abimbola Akeredolu (SAN), she urged the court to either admit her to bail pending conclusion of investigations or direct the EFCC to charge her to court without further delay. She argued that her detention since August 5, 2025, without arraignment, violated her fundamental rights.
In a 13-paragraph affidavit, her lawyers alleged she was subjected to “deplorable conditions, mental harassment, intimidation, and denial of adequate medical care.” They also faulted the EFCC’s bail conditions, which required two sureties who must be civil service directors and owners of landed property in Lagos State. According to her, the EFCC rejected Deputy Registrars of higher institutions whom she presented as sureties.
The EFCC, however, opposed the application. In a counter-affidavit deposed by investigator John Justice and argued by counsel Suleiman I. Suleiman, the commission alleged that Aminah Momoh-Orimoloye was implicated in a foreign exchange scam exceeding ₦1.6 billion, with ₦500 million allegedly diverted from a complainant by her and her associates.
The agency maintained that she posed a flight risk since she resides abroad, had presented unreliable sureties—some of whom were caught providing false information during verification—and that contrary to her claims, she was being held under humane conditions, allowed medical checks, permitted to exchange foreign currency, and receive food from visitors.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Kakaki held that the EFCC had not breached her rights since she had already been granted administrative bail but failed to perfect it.
“Failure of the applicant to present reliable sureties should not be visited on the EFCC. Having been granted bail, the proper thing for her is to fulfill the terms,” the judge ruled.
The court accordingly dismissed her motion, declaring: “The present application, as constituted, is hereby refused.”