Court Sends Blessing CEO Back to Court Over Alleged N13 Million Scam and Forged Medical Report

Wale Igbintade

Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, ordered on Wednesday that Blessing Nkiruka Okoro, known online as Blessing CEO, be remanded into the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) in Ikoyi until her trial on 24 September 2026.

Okoro was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on six counts that include obtaining money by false pretence, forgery, possession of false documents, fraudulent conversion, concealment, and retention of proceeds from unlawful activities.

The EFCC alleges that she collected N13 million from unsuspecting members of the public by claiming she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, specifically breast cancer, and soliciting financial assistance.

During the arraignment, EFCC counsel H.U. Kofanaisa informed the court that the Commission had filed the six‑count charge and requested that the charges be read to the defendant for her plea.

The court complied, and Okoro pleaded not guilty to all six counts.

In the charge, the EFCC claims that Okoro fraudulently obtained N13 million by falsely representing that she had a left breast lump and invasive ductal carcinoma with lobular features.

The agency further accuses her of forging a medical document titled “Histopathology/Cytopathology Report,” purportedly issued by Xinus Medical Diagnostics, and using it to secure financial assistance from the public.

She is also alleged to have possessed and used the forged report, concealed the source of the N13 million as proceeds of unlawful activity, fraudulently converted the money for personal use, and retained the funds in her personal GTBank account.

Following her plea, the prosecution requested a trial date and urged the court to remand her pending the hearing.

Defence counsel Stanley Ofoegbu informed the court that a formal bail application had not yet been filed but that he intended to make an oral application for bail or seek a short adjournment.

Justice Bogoro declined the oral application and adjourned the case to 24 September 2026 for trial.

The judge then ordered that Okoro be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the commencement of proceedings.

“This matter is adjourned to 24 September 2026 for trial. The defendant is to be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service,” the judge ruled.

The latest arraignment follows just one day after another Federal High Court in Lagos granted Okoro bail in a separate fraud case.

On 9 June 2026, Justice Deinde Dipeolu granted her bail of N10 million with two sureties in the same sum in a N36 million fraud case instituted by the EFCC.

On the same day, she was arraigned before Justice R.A. Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja on a two‑count charge alleging that she defrauded Hope Chiropractic Health Clinic Ltd of N69.15 million.

Okoro pleaded not guilty to those charges and was remanded in custody pending the hearing of her bail application, scheduled for 16 July 2026.