Fake lawyer convicted for impersonation, using forged NBA seal

A 55-year-old man, John Nwawuto Anoruo, has been convicted and fined ₦270,000 by the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja for impersonating a legal practitioner and using a forged seal of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Justice Abdulfattah Molawale Lawal delivered the judgment on Tuesday after Mr Anoruo pleaded guilty to a two-count charge brought against him by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The court convicted Anoruo on charges bordering on impersonation and the fraudulent use of a counterfeit NBA seal.

Justice Lawal imposed a fine of ₦120,000 on the first count and ₦150,000 on the second count, bringing the total fine to ₦270,000, payable to the Lagos State Judiciary.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the forged NBA seal and the legal practitioner’s attire recovered from the defendant to the Federal Government through the EFCC.

How the case began

According to the EFCC, Mr Anoruo, who operates a legal and educational consultancy in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, came under investigation after submitting a petition dated September 22, 2025, to the anti-graft agency on behalf of his clients, alleging misconduct by the management of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited.

Investigators later discovered that the petition and a subsequent letter withdrawing the complaint, dated 5 March 2026, bore a forged NBA seal.

The commission said its investigations revealed that the Supreme Court enrolment number on the seal belonged to another legal practitioner.

The defendant was arrested on 20 April 2026.

During the investigation, Mr Anoruo admitted obtaining the counterfeit NBA seal from an undisclosed business centre in Lagos. He also claimed that although he obtained a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018 through evening classes, he never attended the Nigerian Law School and was never called to the Nigerian Bar.

The EFCC arraigned Mr Anoruo on Tuesday on charges of fraudulently using a counterfeit NBA seal and falsely presenting himself to the commission as a legal practitioner duly qualified to practise law in Nigeria.

He pleaded guilty to both counts.

To establish the facts of the case, the prosecution, led by Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, called EFCC investigating officer Umar Faruk Ahmad as its sole witness.

Mr Ahmad told the court that the commission received a petition on 15 April 2026, from legal practitioner Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, who alleged that Mr Anoruo had filed a petition against him and his law firm while falsely presenting himself as a lawyer.

The witness testified that investigations confirmed the NBA seal used by the defendant carried the Supreme Court enrolment number of another lawyer.

He also told the court that Mr Anoruo admitted he was not called to the Nigerian Bar and confessed to obtaining the counterfeit seal from a business centre in Lagos.

According to the EFCC investigator, the defendant earned ₦7.5 million from the legal brief that triggered the investigation. He reportedly paid ₦1.5 million to a qualified legal practitioner to handle the matter on his behalf.

Mr Ahmad further testified that when Mr Anoruo honoured the EFCC’s invitation, he appeared at the commission’s office dressed in a legal practitioner’s attire. A subsequent search of his residence led to the recovery of the counterfeit NBA seal bearing another lawyer’s Supreme Court enrolment number.

The prosecution tendered several exhibits, including the petition filed by Olumide-Fusika, the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, correspondence between the EFCC, the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the recovered legal attire, the forged NBA seal and evidence of a ₦300,000 bank draft paid into the EFCC’s recovery account.

The defence did not object to the admissibility of the exhibits, which the court admitted in evidence.

Plea for leniency

In his allocutus, Mr Anoruo told the court that he paid ₦2.5 million to the individual who introduced him to the legal brief and another ₦1.5 million to the lawyer who handled the matter.

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After the prosecution urged the court to convict the defendant in line with his guilty plea, defence counsel G.E. Demkemefa appealed for mercy, describing Mr Anoruo as a first-time offender who cooperated with investigators and did not waste the court’s time.

Counsel also urged the court to consider that the defendant is the breadwinner for a family comprising his wife and five children and to impose a fine rather than a custodial sentence.

In his judgment, Justice Lawal convicted Mr Anoruo on both counts, imposed the fines, and ordered the forfeiture of the forged NBA seal and legal practitioner’s attire to the Federal Government through the EFCC.