The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, November 12, arraigned musician Felix Duke Osagie, popularly known as Felix Duke, ove
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, November 12, arraigned musician Felix Duke Osagie, popularly known as Felix Duke, over N21.25 million fraud before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
Duke was arraigned before Justice Ismail O. Ijelu on a four-count charge bordering on stealing, obtaining money by false pretence, retention of proceeds of crime and giving false information.
One of the charges stated that the musician, sometime in 2020, stole and converted N21.25 million belonging to one Joseph Onuh Oguche for his personal use.
The charge described the act as stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Another count accused Duke of making a false statement to EFCC investigators on April 2, 2026, concerning a parcel of land at Ise, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, which he claimed he had the authority to sell.
The commission claimed that the statement was made with the intention of misleading its officers and was false to the defendant’s knowledge.
Duke pleaded not guilty to all four counts when they were read to him.
Following his plea, the prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid Lamido Tukur, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility.
However, defence counsel, Sunday Afolabi, informed the court that a bail application dated November 4 and filed on November 5, was pending.
He said the application was supported by an 18-paragraph affidavit deposed to by the defendant’s wife and urged the court to grant Duke bail on liberal terms or on self-recognisance.
In response, Tukur told the court that the prosecution had filed a counter-affidavit dated November 10, opposing the bail application.
He urged the court to consider the prosecution’s claim that the defendant had jumped EFCC administrative bail since July 2026.
The prosecution counsel also said the defendant had continued to pursue a fundamental rights enforcement suit in another court through his lawyer.
Tukur further disclosed that the prosecution intended to call four witnesses during the trial.
Justice Ijelu granted Duke bail in the sum of N10 million, with two sureties in like sum.
The judge ordered that one of the sureties must be a blood relative of the defendant, while both must reside in Lagos State and provide evidence of tax payments to the state government within the last three years.
The sureties are also required to provide evidence of verifiable sources of income.
The court further directed Duke to surrender his international passport to the registrar and barred him from travelling outside Nigeria pending the conclusion of the case.
Justice Ijelu adjourned the matter until December 16, for the commencement of trial and ordered that the defendant remain in a correctional facility pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.
