A fake lawyer has been convicted on Tuesday by the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja for impersonation and using a forged Nigerian Bar Association, NBA seal to present himself as a legal practitioner.
Justice A.M. Lawal, convicted and sentenced John Nwawuto Anoruo, 55, after he pleaded guilty to two counts bordering on impersonation and fraudulent use of a counterfeit NBA seal.
One of the charges against him reads, “That you, John Nwawuto Anoruo, sometime between 2025 and 2026, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently used a counterfeited seal titled ‘Nigerian Bar Association’ with Supreme Court Number SCN037400, with intent that same be acted upon as genuine and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 366(1) and punishable under Section 365(1)(x) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.”
The second count stated that the defendant, on September 4, 2025, falsely represented himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as a legal practitioner duly certified to practice law in Nigeria and as the holder of a Nigerian Bar Association seal bearing Supreme Court Number SCN037400, which lawfully belonged to another legal practitioner, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 382 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The court fined him N270,000 and ordered the forfeiture of his legal practitioner’s attire and the forged NBA seal to the Federal Government through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The EFCC said Anoruo, who operated a legal and educational consultancy in Ikorodu, Lagos, was arrested on April 20, 2026, after investigations revealed he had submitted a petition to the anti-graft agency on behalf of clients using a forged NBA seal bearing the Supreme Court enrolment number of another lawyer.
Investigators also found that a subsequent letter withdrawing the petition carried the same forged NBA seal, which Anoruo admitted obtaining from an undisclosed business centre in Lagos.
According to the EFCC, the defendant claimed he earned a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018 through evening classes but never attended the Nigerian Law School and was never called to the Nigerian Bar.
The counsel to the prosecution, Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, presented evidence through EFCC investigator Umar Faruk Ahmad, who testified that the defendant falsely represented himself as a qualified legal practitioner while handling legal briefs.
The witness told the court that the Supreme Court enrolment number on the forged NBA seal belonged to another lawyer.
He added that Anoruo earned N7.5 million from the legal brief but paid N1.5 million to a qualified lawyer to handle the matter on his behalf.
Through the investigating officer, the prosecution tendered in evidence the petition written by Olumide-Fusika; the defendant’s extra-judicial statement made under caution; investigation letters sent by the EFCC to the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, together with their responses; the legal practitioner’s attire recovered from the defendant; the counterfeit NBA seal; and evidence of a N300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) bank draft paid by the defendant into the EFCC’s recovery account.
During the investigation, EFCC operatives recovered a lawyer’s robe and the counterfeit NBA seal from the defendant’s residence.
The prosecution counsel also tendered the petition, the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, correspondence with the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the counterfeit seal, legal attire and proof of a N300,000 bank draft paid into the EFCC recovery account.
The defence did not object to the exhibits.
In his plea for leniency, counsel to the defendant, G.E. Demkemefa urged the court to consider that Anoruo was a first-time offender, had pleaded guilty without wasting the court’s time and was responsible for his wife and five children.
Justice Lawal convicted the defendant on both counts and imposed fines of N120,000 on the first count and N150,000 on the second count, making a total of N270,000, payable to the Lagos State Judiciary.
The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the counterfeit NBA seal and the legal practitioner’s attire recovered from Anoruo to the Federal Government through the EFCC.
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