Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced a fake lawyer, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for impersonation and possession of a forged Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal.

Justice A.M. Lawal delivered the judgment on Tuesday following Anoruo's guilty plea to a two-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Anoruo, 55, who runs a legal and educational consultancy in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, was arrested by EFCC operatives on April 20, 2026. According to the Commission, his case began after he submitted a petition dated September 22, 2025, to the EFCC on behalf of clients against the management of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited. Investigators said the petition and a subsequent letter of withdrawal, dated March 5, 2026, both bore a forged NBA seal, which Anoruo admitted obtaining from an undisclosed business centre in Lagos.

During investigations, Anoruo said he earned a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 2018 through evening classes but never attended the Nigerian Law School.

He was arraigned on August 4, 2026, by the EFCC's Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 on two counts: fraudulently using a counterfeit NBA seal bearing another lawyer's Supreme Court enrolment number, contrary to the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015; and falsely presenting himself to the EFCC as a certified legal practitioner, contrary to Section 382 of the same law. He pleaded guilty to both counts.

Prosecuting counsel Saadatu Mahmud Yabo called EFCC investigator Umar Faruk Ahmad to review the facts of the case. Ahmad told the court the Commission received a petition on April 15, 2026, from lawyer Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, alleging that Anoruo had filed a complaint against him and his law firm while falsely presenting himself as a legal practitioner. Investigations confirmed the enrolment number on the seal belonged to another lawyer entirely.

Ahmad said Anoruo earned ₦7,500,000 from the legal brief in question, of which he paid ₦1,500,000 to a qualified lawyer to handle the matter on his behalf. He said Anoruo arrived at the EFCC's office in legal practitioner's attire when he honoured an invitation for questioning, and that a subsequent search of his residence led to the recovery of the counterfeit seal.

The prosecution tendered nine exhibits, including Olumide-Fusika's petition, Anoruo's extra-judicial statement, correspondence between the EFCC and the Body of Benchers and Supreme Court, the recovered attire and seal, and a ₦300,000 bank draft paid by Anoruo into the EFCC's recovery account. Defence counsel G.E. Demkemefa raised no objection, and Justice Lawal admitted the items as Exhibits 1 to 9.

In his allocutus, Anoruo told the court he paid ₦2,500,000 to the person who introduced him to the case and ₦1,500,000 to the lawyer who handled it. His counsel described him as a first-time offender who did not waste the time of the EFCC or the court, noting he is the sole breadwinner for his wife and five children, and urged the court to impose a fine rather than a custodial sentence.

Delivering judgment, Justice Lawal convicted Anoruo on both counts. He was fined ₦120,000 on count one and ₦150,000 on count two, bringing the total to ₦270,000, payable to the Lagos State Judiciary. The court also ordered that the forged NBA seal and legal practitioner's attire recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the EFCC.