LAGOS, NIGERIA — It reads like the script of a high-stakes Nollywood thriller, yet the sworn testimonies inside a Lagos High Court reveal one of the most audacious financial cons ever executed in Nigeria—pulled off not from a shadowy cybercafé, but from inside the VIP wing of the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison.
At the center of the scandal is Fred Chijindu Ajudua, a University of Benin-trained lawyer, flamboyant 1990s Lagos socialite, and reputed pioneer of advance-fee fraud (“419”). His target? None other than Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd.), the powerful former Chief of Army Staff under the late military ruler Gen. Sani Abacha.
Lagos socialite and lawyer Fred Ajudua. Source: THISDAYLIVE
The Kirikiri VIP Con: Turning Desperation into $8.4 Million
In 2004, both men were remanded at the VIP section of Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos. Gen. Bamaiyi had been standing trial since 1999 on four counts of attempted murder (charges on which he was eventually discharged and acquitted), while Ajudua was already behind bars facing separate fraud prosecutions.
According to Gen. Bamaiyi’s explosive testimony before the Ikeja High Court in Lagos during his prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ajudua exploited the retired general’s desperation for freedom between November 2004 and June 2005:
- Playing the “Legal Savior” Card: Ajudua convinced Bamaiyi that his northern legal team could not secure his release in a Lagos court. He insisted Bamaiyi needed a heavyweight southern Senior Advocate of Nigeria and recommended legal luminary Chief Afe Babalola (SAN).
- Name-Dropping the Judiciary and Top Officials: To seal the illusion, Ajudua claimed his wife was actively liaising with top Lagos judicial and government figures—dropping the names of then-Lagos State Chief Judge Justice Ade Alabi and then-Attorney-General Prof. Yemi Osinbajo—to orchestrate a favorable outcome and influence the presiding trial judge, Justice Joseph Oyewole.
- The Court Registrar Gambit: Bamaiyi testified that Ajudua claimed the Chief Judge had directed that Chief Afe Babalola’s legal fees and “facilitation” funds be routed through Justice Oyewole’s court registrar. True to the script, a woman introduced as Ronke Rosulu (Justice Oyewole’s registrar) visited the prison VIP section alongside Ajudua’s associate to collect cash tranches.
- 25 Tranches of Cash—Even From a Hospital Bed: Convinced his freedom was imminent, Bamaiyi liquidated prime properties in Victoria Island, Dolphin Estate, Yaba, and Kaduna, and pooled funds from friends, associates, and his farms. Across 25 separate installments (6 in 2004 and 19 in 2005)—handed over inside Kirikiri, through his wife, and even while Bamaiyi was on admission at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)—Ajudua and his cohorts allegedly collected $8.4 million.
- Fake Letters and Vanishing Acts: When Bamaiyi grew suspicious and demanded to meet Chief Afe Babalola, Ajudua—who had briefly secured bail—sent an emissary claiming to be from Babalola’s chambers carrying an unsigned letter lacking the firm’s official letterhead. When Bamaiyi finally verified that neither Chief Afe Babalola nor Justice Oyewole had received a dime, Ajudua’s phone lines went dead.
(Note: Throughout the trial, Ajudua pleaded not guilty, with his defence counsel questioning the source of Bamaiyi’s funds and denying the fraud allegations.)
A Decades-Long Trail of High-Profile Shenanigans
Long before the Kirikiri prison saga, Fred Ajudua had already carved out an infamous reputation as one of the most audacious figures of Nigeria’s 1990s and early-2000s “419” era:
- The $1.043 Million Zad Abu Zalaf Scam (1993): In one of Nigeria’s longest-running criminal prosecutions, the EFCC accused Ajudua of defrauding a Palestinian businessman, Zad Abu Zalaf, of $1,043,000 in 1993 under false pretenses.
- The $1.69 Million Dutch Businessmen Heist (1999–2000): Ajudua was arraigned alongside accomplices over an alleged $1.69 million (approx. ₦234 million at the time) advance-fee fraud targeting two Dutch nationals, Remy Cima and Pierra Vijgen, involving forged signatures of top Nigerian government officials, including former Finance Minister Adamu Ciroma.
- German Businesswoman & International Victims: His name also surfaced in multiple international fraud petitions, including allegations involving German national Frieda Springer-Beck, alongside decades of jurisdictional battles between the Nigeria Police Force and the EFCC. allAfrica.com
- Abuja Land Fraud & Forgery Arrest (May 2024): Proving his run-ins with law enforcement were far from over, Nigeria Police operatives arrested Ajudua in Abuja in May 2024 over fresh allegations of land fraud and document forgery, though he was released on bail days later.
Where Is Fred Ajudua Now?
For more than two decades, Ajudua’s legal battles have become a case study in how senior defence lawyers, health-related bail applications, interlocutory appeals, and judicial reassignments can stretch Nigerian criminal trials across generations.
- Supreme Court Clampdown & EFCC Rearrest (2025): After years of courtroom maneuvering in the 1993 $1.043 million Zad Abu Zalaf fraud case, the Supreme Court of Nigeria on May 9, 2025, overturned an earlier Court of Appeal ruling that had granted Ajudua bail and ordered his return to prison custody. Days later, on May 13, 2025, EFCC operatives tracked down and arrested him in Abuja.
- Custody & Legal Limbo (2025–2026): Returned to correctional custody in Lagos, Ajudua’s subsequent fresh bail bids before Justice Mojisola Dada at the Special Offences Court in Ikeja were rejected in July and November 2025. However, following another appellate twist over bail and case reassignment, Justice Dada struck out a pending motion and adjourned the $1.043 million fraud trial indefinitely on March 10, 2026, pending the outcome of cross-appeals at the Supreme Court and reassignment directives from the Lagos State Chief Judge.
More than 30 years after his first high-profile fraud charges shook Lagos, Fred Ajudua remains locked in Nigeria’s appellate labyrinth—a living symbol of both the audacity of 1990s advance-fee fraud and the glacial pace of high-profile financial justice.
Stay tuned to ABT NEWS (www.abtnews.net) for continuous updates on Nigeria’s biggest courtroom and anti-corruption battles.
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