Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, granted the social media influencer N10 million bail on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in the original N36 million fraud case. But barely hours later, the EFCC produced another charge: N69.15 million stolen from a health company under the false pretence that she owned a property in Lekki. She was immediately remanded in EFCC custody pending the hearing of her bail application on the new charges, set for July 16, 2026. She has pleaded not guilty to both cases.
This twin‑blow legal action began with a bail ruling in a case that dates back to May 15, 2026, when the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 first arraigned Blessing CEO before Justice D.I. Dipeolu. She was charged with two counts of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing to the tune of N36 million. According to the charge sheet, between July 14 and July 17, 2024, she allegedly collected the sum from Mrs Ifeyinwa Nonye Okoye on the pretext that she was authorised to lease a six‑bedroom detached duplex located at No. 1B, Tunbosun Osobu Street, off Kuboye Road, Lekki, Lagos.
The complainant paid N36 million and began renovation work, but the actual owner of the property, one Thomas Osogun, appeared on the scene and ejected her from the premises. The EFCC alleged that Blessing CEO unlawfully converted the money to her personal use. She pleaded not guilty.
On Tuesday, June 9, 2026, Justice Dipeolu granted bail in that case. The court admitted her to bail in the sum of N10 million with two sureties in like sum. One surety must be a family member and must provide proof of employment, BVN, NIN and a valid phone number. The sureties must also submit a valid international passport, tax clearance certificates for the last two years and six passport photographs. However, when the prosecution objected to her being remanded in EFCC custody – citing that the commission’s detention facility was already full – Justice Dipeolu ordered that she be kept at a correctional centre until she meets the bail conditions. The case was adjourned to June 22, 2026, for the continuation of trial.
But the court session had not even ended before the EFCC produced a fresh charge sheet. The anti‑graft agency moved swiftly to arraign the same defendant before Justice R.A. Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on a two‑count charge of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing, this time to the tune of N69.15 million. According to the EFCC, Blessing CEO induced Hope Chiropractic Health Clinic Limited to part with the sum by falsely claiming ownership of a property at No. 1, Tunbosun Osobu Street, Lekki, which she purportedly leased to the company for a period of five years. The commission alleged that the representation was false and made with the intent to defraud. The second count accused her of dishonestly converting the N69.15 million to her personal use, an act that constitutes stealing under Lagos State law.
Count one of the new charge states: “That you, OKORO BLESSING NKIRUKA, on or about March 21, 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, by false pretence and with intent to defraud, induced Hope Chiropractic Health Clinic Limited to confer a benefit of N69,150,000 (Sixty‑Nine Million, One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) on you under the representation that the property located at No. 1 Tunbosun Osobu Street, Lekki, belonged to you and was leased to the company for a period of five years, a representation you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(2) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act.”
Count two reads: “That you, OKORO BLESSING NKIRUKA, on or about March 21, 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of N69,150,000 (Sixty‑Nine Million, One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira), being the property of Hope Chiropractic Health Clinic Limited, thereby committing an offence of stealing contrary to Section 280(2) and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015”.
At the commencement of the proceedings, prosecution counsel C.C. Okezie urged the court to proceed with the arraignment, arguing that the defendant had been duly served with the charge. Defence counsel Nkama Nneka informed the court that service had only recently been effected. Justice Oshodi ruled that the arraignment should proceed in accordance with the law, after which the charges were read to the defendant. Blessing CEO pleaded not guilty.
Following her plea, the prosecution requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in EFCC custody pending her scheduled arraignment before the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, on June 10, 2026, in another alleged fraud case. Justice Oshodi granted the request, remanded Blessing CEO in EFCC custody and adjourned the matter until July 16, 2026, for the hearing of her bail application and the commencement of trial.
The first N36 million case has already advanced to the trial stage. On June 5, 2026, the prosecution called its first witness, Bufa Regina Okangbe, an EFCC investigator. She testified under oath that the commission conducted a Bank Verification Number search on the defendant, which uncovered multiple bank accounts linked to her. The EFCC wrote to banks, the Lagos State Land Bureau and the Corporate Affairs Commission. Okangbe said the defendant made statements under caution in the presence of her lawyer and husband and admitted receiving N30 million from the petitioner. The Lagos State Land Bureau confirmed that the property in dispute belonged not to the defendant but to one Tunbosun Osobu. The defendant later admitted leasing the property from Osobu for three years, but the lease had expired in 2023 before it was renewed in 2025. The witness told the court that after receiving the money, the defendant made payments totalling millions to her mother, associates and a firm called De Beauty City by Lekki. The defence objected to the admissibility of the defendant’s statements, arguing there was no endorsement showing the presence of a legal practitioner, but Justice Dipeolu overruled the objections and admitted the documents in evidence.
The emergence of two parallel fraud cases on the same day has thrust the influencer into an unprecedented legal crisis. As of the evening of June 10, 2026, Blessing CEO remained in EFCC custody, with two separate court hearings looming. Her followers, who once tuned in for her blunt relationship advice, are now following the docket numbers instead.
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