The Lagos state High Court sitting in Ikeja has fined 55-year-old John Nwawuto Anoruo N270,000 for impersonating a legal practitioner and fraudulently using a forged Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal.


Justice Abdulfattah Molawale Lawal delivered the judgment Wednesday  after Anoruo pleaded guilty to a two-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).


The EFCC said Anoruo came under investigation after submitting a petition on behalf of clients that bore a forged NBA seal. The commission said the seal carried another lawyer’s Supreme Court enrolment number.


Anoruo was arrested on April 20, 2026 by the EFCC.
Anoruo admitted obtaining the counterfeit seal from a Lagos business centre and disclosed that, although he earned a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018, he never attended the Nigerian Law School or called to the Nigerian Bar.
The prosecution led by Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, called EFCC investigating officer, Umar Faruk Ahmad, as its sole witness. Ahmad told the court that Anoruo had earned N7.5 million from the legal brief that triggered the investigation and paid N1.5 million to a qualified lawyer to handle the matter.