The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest Abuja realtor Rebecca Godwin-Isaac. The court wants her in court on Thursday for her trial over alleged land fraud.
Judge Joyce Abdulmalik gave this order after Mrs Godwin-Isaac did not show up for the continuation of her criminal case.
At the hearing, EFCC lawyer Benedict Ubi told the court that Mrs Godwin-Isaac was under a "self-imposed house arrest" due to an interim forfeiture order related to a disputed property.
Mr Ubi said Mrs Godwin-Isaac was stopping EFCC officials from carrying out the court’s order. He added that she had also violated her bail conditions by traveling outside the court's jurisdiction multiple times.
But her lawyer, Christopher Oshomeghie, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), presented a different view. He told the court that EFCC agents had been at his client’s Guzape home for 23 days, making it impossible for her to leave.
Mr Oshomeghie explained that Mrs Godwin-Isaac stayed indoors because she was afraid for her safety and that this situation had harmed her health.
The prosecution did not agree with this account. Mr Ubi insisted that Mrs Godwin-Isaac had the keys to her apartment and had locked herself inside. He said the EFCC agents outside were just doing their job.
After hearing both sides, Mrs Abdulmalik ordered the EFCC to take Mrs Godwin-Isaac into custody and bring her to court on Thursday. The order came after her lawyer confirmed she had the keys.
The Whistler Newspaper reported that Mrs Godwin-Isaac was later taken into custody after she left the building voluntarily, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The issue of her absence from court came up amid a disagreement over the EFCC’s ongoing presence at her Guzape property. Earlier on Tuesday, during a related civil suit filed by the EFCC, Mr Oshomeghie asked the court to clarify an earlier order. This order told the parties to keep the status quo ante bellum.
He argued that the EFCC’s presence at the property had kept his client indoors for nearly a month. Mrs Abdulmalik, however, dismissed this argument and told the lawyer he could not “think for the court.”
“When I make an order, I go to sleep,” the judge said.
During the civil case, Mr Ubi told the court that an application for final forfeiture of the disputed property is still pending. He also mentioned that another party wants to join the suit.
The court decided that the joinder application should be heard before the other pending applications and postponed the civil matter until 15 October.
The land issue is linked to the criminal trial where Mrs Godwin-Isaac faces charges with her husband, Isaac Ishaku; Homadil Realty Limited; Richard John; and Rychado Homes Limited. The defendants were arraigned before Mrs Abdulmalik in June 2025, in two separate cases marked FHC/ABJ/CR/76/2025 and FHC/ABJ/CR/77/2025.
These cases include charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, obtaining money under false pretenses and money laundering. The defendants pleaded not guilty and were granted bail of N10 million each, with two sureties.
The EFCC claims the defendants fraudulently took over N500 million from victims between 2023 and 2024 by selling land using forged documents, including fake Powers of Attorney. The disputed properties include Plot 4022 in Guzape and several plots in Katampe, Abuja.
The commission also claims that the money from the alleged fraud was laundered through company accounts. Among the alleged victims is a 79-year-old widow, Colleen Yesufu.
She accused Mrs Godwin-Isaac, also known as Bilikisu Ishaku Aliyu, in a letter to President Bola Tinubu, of running the land fraud with corrupt police officers and land officials. Mrs Yesufu said she was responding to Ms Godwin-Isaac’s earlier letter to the president, where the developer denied any wrongdoing and claimed legal ownership of the disputed plots.
“I am compelled to write this letter in direct response to the misleading claims of innocence made by Ms Rebecca Omokamo Godwin Isaac... I respectfully demand your urgent intervention to ensure that justice is not only done, but visibly seen to be done,” she wrote.
A witness for the prosecution, Abu Gambo, previously told the court he lost N62 million after buying two plots in Katampe. He found out later that the titles to the properties had allegedly vanished from the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) records.
The trial has faced delays before. In June, the proceedings were postponed after an EFCC witness lost his mother. The prosecution had prepared the witness to testify but needed a new date due to the bereavement.
The defendants have denied the allegations.
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