The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, June 19, 2025, arraigned a Port Harcourt-based medical practitioner, Dr. Nekabari Dambere Nathan, before Justice P.I. Ajoku of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, over an alleged N39.1 million visa fraud.
Dr. Nathan was arraigned alongside his company, Global Horizons Academy Ltd, on a one-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence and advance fee fraud.
According to the EFCC, the accused allegedly defrauded the Managing Director of Riskout Consults, Mr. Justice Toojah Iyieagbu, of ₦39,157,000.00, under the guise of securing visas and job placements in Canada, Ireland, and the United States for clients of the consultancy firm.
The charge reads in part:
“That you, Dr. Nekabari Dambere Nathan and Global Horizons Academy Ltd, between 8th April to 12th December 2023, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of Thirty-Nine Million, One Hundred and Fifty-Seven Thousand Naira from Justice Toojah Iyieagbu… for visa processing under false pretence…”
Upon arraignment, the defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charge. Prosecution counsel A. Abubakar subsequently requested the court to remand the defendant and fix a date for trial. In response, defence counsel Friday Otanjah applied for bail, citing the medical condition of the accused.
Justice Ajoku adjourned the matter to June 25, 2025, for hearing of the bail application, and ordered that Dr. Nathan be remanded in the custody of the EFCC. The trial is slated to begin on November 27, 2025.
According to the EFCC, investigations revealed that the accused falsely presented himself as a professional caregiver trainer and licensed travel agent capable of facilitating international travel, employment, and enrollment for IELTS examinations.
The complainant further alleged that multiple students who paid into Dr. Nathan’s account were abandoned, as he failed to secure any of the promised services and became unreachable, prompting the petition to the EFCC.
