The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has filed fresh 12-count criminal charges against an Abuja based fertility doctor, Pastor John Abebe, over alleged unlawful disclosures of his patient’s medical records, sale of human embryos and fraud.
Also charged along with Pastor Abebe is his hospital ,Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited and one Balikis Olanike Bakare.
The development is contrary to a statement issued by Pastor Abebe’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, last Friday, claiming that the Federal Government did not file any fresh criminal charge against his client.
In the new charges filed on July 21, 2026 at the registry of the High Count of the Federal Capital Territory, Abebe, who is also a Pastor with Living Faith Church, (AKA Winners Chapel) Durumi Abuja, was charged alongside his hospital Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited and one Balikis Olanike Bakare who was not part of the three count charge filed on January 12, 2026 by the Inspector General of Police.
In the charge sheet, the defendant, Balikis Olanike Bakare together with Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited were charged for criminal conspiracy, conscipiracy to commit fraud and giving false information to mislead Police investigators amongst others.
Pastor Abebe and Joje Abebe Hospital Limited were on March 11, 2026, arraigned before Hon Justice Akeem A. Fashola of Court 31, Jabi Abuja on a three-count charge and was granted bail.
On June 18, 2026, when the matter came up for hearing, the Attorney General took over the case from the Inspector General Police following refusal of the former Commander of the Special Tactical Squad Dauda Iliya Ayuba to arraign Pastor Abebe on February 19, 2026.
The new charges contained disturbing details of how Pastor Abebe sold 9 out of the 12 human embryos belonging to Mr. & Mrs. Adamu Hassan to other patients comprising of 2 males and 7 females.
He is also accused of defrauding the couple of the sum of N19 million in addition to administration of fake and substandard drugs that led to the cessation of Mrs Manga’s menstrual circle since January 2025 and the continued deterioration of her health amongst others.
Prosecutors said Pastor Abebe and Balikis Olanike Bakare claimed to have transfered two male Embroyos to a purported surrogate mother, one Miss Joy Ene Pius whereas evidence gathered by investigators speaks to the contrary.
The arraignment of the defendants have been fixed for October 28, 2026.
COUNT ONE
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, head office located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division, while you were in custody of Mr. & Mrs. Mary Manga’s medical records concerning their health welfare and their production status sometime on the 6th day of August 2025, at FCT, Abuja, you attached their medical history to a document title Re: Demand/Pre-action Notice from the law firm of Fabunmi and Co, which was received and read by one Albert Gaji, a security guard at the law firm of Y. J. Imam Esq, which were later exposed to some other members of the public to read as a result of the exposure made her to be traumatized till date, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 29 of the National Health Act, 2014.”
COUNT TWO
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, did on or about 17th September, 2025, you were invited by the officers and men of the FID STS Police Force Headquarters FCT, Abuja, for breaching the confidential agreement you made with Mr. Adamu Hassan the husband of Mary Manga over his health status concerning his reproduction status not to expose to a third party, via-a-vis sometime on the 6th day of August, 2025, you attached their medical history that you conveyed the poor fertility status of her husband to a document title Re: Demand/Pre-action Notice from the law firm of Fabunmi and Co, which was received and read by one Albert Gaji, a security guard at the law firm of Y. J. Imam Esq, which were later exposed to some other members of the public to read as a result of the exposure made him to be traumatized till date. And that you thereby committed an offense contrary and punishable under section 29 of the National Health Act, 2014.”
COUNT THREE
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division between the month of January to May 2025, at FCT Abuja, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud by false pretense deceived, and duped Mrs. Mary Manga and her husband to the tune of N19 million (N19,000,000), under the pretense that you are specialized in Invitro Fertilization (IVF), having reason to believe you are not skill in that field and converted the whole. And that you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 1 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act, 2006.”
COUNT FOUR
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division between the month of January to May 2025, at FCT Abuja, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while you were in the custody of Twelve (12) human embryos, Five (5) Male, Seven (7) Female belonging to Mr. Adamu Hassan and his wife Mrs. Mary Manga on or about a date between January 2025 and November, 2025, did unlawfully sell or otherwise deal for valuable consideration in nine (9) out of the 12 human embryos, comprising two (2) male embryos and seven (7) female embryos, which embryos were in your custody for medical purposes, thereby committing an offence. And you thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under section 48(1) of the National Health Act, 2014, and punishable under Section 48(2) of the same Act.
COUNT FIVE
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division being entrusted with the custody and control of nine (9) embryos (two male and seven female embryos) belonging to Mr. Adamu Hassan and Mrs. Mary Manga, in your capacity as a medical practitioner, did dishonestly convert same to your own use by selling them without the consent of the owners. And you thereby committed an offense which is contrary to and punishable under sections 311 and 312 of the Penal Code Act, and punishable under Section 312 of the same Act.
COUNT SIX
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division, between July 2024 and November 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while you were in the custody of Mr. Adamu Hassan and Mrs. Mary Manga’s 12 embryos, Five male and Seven Female, induced them to entrust you with their embryos under the belief that same would be preserved for their reproductive use, but dishonestly disposed of Nine (9) consisting of 2 male and 7 females for financial benefit. And you thereby committed an offense which is contrary to and punishable under section 322 of the Penal Code Act, and punishable under Section 324 of the same Act.
COUNT SEVEN
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division, between January 2025 and November 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while you were in the custody of Mr. Adamu Hassan and Mrs. Mary Manga’s 12 embryos, Five (5) male and Seven (7) Female, did misappropriate nine (9) consisting of 2 male and 7 female which were entrusted to you in the course of your professional duty. And thereby committed an offense which is contrary to and punishable under section 308 of the Penal Code Act, and punishable under Section 309 of the same Act.
COUNT EIGHT
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division, between January 2025 and November 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while you were in the custody of Mr. Adamu Hassan and Mrs. Mary Manga’s 12 embryos, Five (5) male and Seven (7) Female, which were entrusted to you in the course of your professional duty, did dishonestly take and convert to your own use nine (9) human embryos, comprising two (2) male embryos and seven (7) female embryos, belonging to Mr. Adamu Hassan Turaki and his wife Mrs. Mary Manga Turaki, without their consent, thereby committed an offence contrary to section 286 and punishable under Section 287 of the Penal Code Act.
COUNT NINE
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe ‘M’ 54 years, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being a Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, 3. you, Balikis Olanike Bakare located at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division, between January 2025 and June 2026, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court , that you conspired to mislead investigators at the Special Tactical Squad of the Force Intelligence Department by giving false information about IVF surrogacy programme treatment of Mr. Adamu Hassan and Mrs. Mary Manga, wherein you claimed to have transferred 2 male embryos to a purported surrogate mother Miss Joy Ene Pius on July 9, 2025 while knowing you did not do it thereby committed an offence punishable under section 97(1) and (2) of the Penal Code Law.
COUNT TEN
That you, John Onuwabhagbe Abebe, male, aged 54 years; Joje Abebe Hospital Limited; and Balikis Olanike Bakare, Adult , Female between January 2025 and June 2026, at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division and within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, agreed among yourselves to commit an illegal act, namely, giving false information to investigators attached to the Special Tactical Squad of the Force Intelligence Department of the Nigeria Police Force concerning the IVF surrogacy programme of Mr. Adamu Hassan and Mrs. Mary Manga by falsely representing that two male embryos were transferred to a surrogate, Miss Joy Ene Pius, on 9 July 2025, knowing the representation to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 97 of the Penal Code Act and punishable thereunder.
COUNT ELEVEN
That you, John Onuwabhagbe Abebe, Joje Abebe Hospital Limited, and Balikis Olanike Bakare, Adult , Female, between January 2025 and June 2026, at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division and within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, knowingly gave false information to investigators attached to the Special Tactical Squad of the Force Intelligence Department of the Nigeria Police Force by stating that two male embryos belonging to Mr. Adamu Hassan and Mrs. Mary Manga were transferred on 9 July 2025 to a surrogate, Miss Joy Ene Pius, knowing or believing that information to be false and intending thereby to mislead the investigators in the discharge of their lawful duties, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 140 of the Penal Code Act and punishable thereunder.
COUNT TWELVE
That you John Onuwabhagbe Abebe, Male, 54 years; and Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, being the Chief Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist/Medical Doctor of Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, situated at No. 0140, Bamanga Tukur Street, Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Gudu District, FCT, Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division, between July 2024 and July 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while providing medical treatment to Mrs. Mary Manga, did rashly and negligently administer, or cause to be administered, inappropriate and/or wrong drugs and refused to administer the right and appropriate drugs and medical treatment to her without exercising the degree of professional care, skill and diligence required by law and without complying with your statutory obligations under Sections 23 and 24 of the National Health Act, 2014, thereby causing her severe illness, deterioration of her health, physical pain, emotional trauma and the cessation of her menstrual cycle from January 2025 to date, thereby endangering her life and personal safety, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Sections 303 and 343 of the Penal Code Act.