The trial of Bishop Katung Jonas and Okewole Dayo, chairman and secretary of the Covenant Fadama Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, Jos, Plateau State, took a dramatic turn on Tuesday as the first prosecution witness recounted how the defendants allegedly used religious influence and media advertisements to lure unsuspecting victims into a fraudulent investment scheme.
Testifying before Justice Sharon T. Ishaya of the Federal High Court in Jos, the witness, Sulaiman Kwalla, told the court that he and his wife, along with thousands of others, were deceived into investing in the cooperative due to their trust in Bishop Jonas’s spiritual authority and televised sermons.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Bishop Jonas and Dayo on a 23-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretence to the tune of ₦178,885,000.
According to Hobnob News, the witness, led in evidence by EFCC counsel Ibrahim Buba, said he invested ₦200,000 of his own money and ₦100,000 on behalf of his wife, Halima Ibrahim Danyaro, after viewing advertisements aired on Plateau Radio Television Corporation (PRTV). These adverts, he said, were often broadcast immediately after Bishop Jonas’s sermons, during which the clergyman urged viewers to invest in the cooperative.
“Based on the Bishop’s religious standing and the promise of a 10 percent monthly return, I was convinced it was a genuine investment,” Kwalla told the court. He said he was directed to make payments into Dadin Kowa Microfinance Bank, which was said to be affiliated with the cooperative, and he received official receipts for both transactions.
However, he said neither he nor his wife received the promised dividends. By the end of the first month, he discovered that many other investors had suffered the same fate. When he visited the cooperative’s Secretariat Road office, he met a crowd of angry and disappointed investors.
He recounted that on June 4, 2012, the situation escalated as agitated investors stormed the office demanding refunds. The chaos forced armed policemen to evacuate Dayo for his safety, and he was later detained at the Plateau State Police Headquarters.
Kwalla said a meeting was later convened between the police, investors, and Bishop Jonas, during which the bishop admitted to being the cooperative’s chairman and promised to begin repayments in July 2012. According to the witness, this promise was never fulfilled.
“At every turn, there were new excuses,” Kwalla testified. He further revealed that Bishop Jonas later introduced Lanre Global Concept, a consultancy firm allegedly meant to help recover funds from abroad. Investors rejected the firm due to unfamiliarity. Subsequently, the bishop introduced another scheme, Global View, where he claimed funds had been diverted into forex trading — all of which turned out to be fraudulent, according to the witness.
After multiple failed repayment attempts, investors, through their lawyer Solomon Dalung, petitioned the EFCC. The petition alleged over ₦8 billion in fraud, affecting more than 44,000 people.
Kwalla confirmed that while his ₦200,000 was eventually refunded through a cooperative official, his wife’s ₦100,000 remains unpaid.
When the prosecution attempted to tender payment receipts and the EFCC petition as evidence, defense counsels C.I. Nwogbo and G.G. Achi objected. They argued that the receipt issued in the name of Halima Danyaro could not be admitted since she was not present in court and had not testified. They also challenged the admissibility of the EFCC petition, claiming it lacked proper certification under Section 104 of the Evidence Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).
In response, prosecution counsel Buba argued that the receipts were relevant and issued by the cooperative society, thereby forming part of the fraudulent transactions under investigation. He maintained that the petition submitted was an original document and thus did not require certification.
Justice Ishaya adjourned the matter to today Wednesday, July 23, 2025, for a ruling on the admissibility of the documents and continuation of the trial.
