An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness, Mr. Trinity Usman, on Friday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that he received and transferred three million dollars into Mrs. Aisha Achimugu’s company account.
Usman, the second prosecution witness (PW-2), gave his testimony before Justice Emeka Nwite, led in evidence by EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN.
NAIJAONPOINT , a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator, testified in the ongoing trial of Halima Buba, Managing Director of SunTrust Bank, and Innocent Mbagwu, the bank’s Executive Director and Chief Compliance Officer.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the duo are being prosecuted for money laundering offences totaling $12 million.
In the six-count charge, they were accused of facilitating high-value cash transactions without routing them through a financial institution—an offence said to contravene Sections 21(a), 2(1), and 9(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the same Act.
The defendants were arraigned on June 13 and pleaded not guilty. They were granted N100 million bail each, with one surety in like sum.
At the resumed trial, Usman said he came to court “to tell what I know about the transactions I had with Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd,” a company owned by Aisha Achimugu.
He described himself as a businessman involved in oil, agro-allied, and general contracting, operating through several companies, including Triple A and Tee Service Venture, T.M. Agro Allied Farm, Triple A and D Oil & Gas Ltd, and Triple A and Tee BDC Ltd.
“Sometimes in April 2025, one Suleiman Ciroma contacted me that he had a transaction that he needed 3 million US dollars to be transferred to Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd,” Usman testified.
“At that particular time, I had the money in my Triple A and Tee Oil and Gas Nig Ltd account. After we agreed with him, Suleiman Ciroma gave me the dollar payment in cash. I paid him the dollars into Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd account,” he said.
When asked if he could recall the exact date, NAIJAONPOINT said, “I made the transfer in four tranches but I cannot remember the exact day.”
When EFCC’s counsel asked if he knew the defendants, Usman replied, “No.”
He further explained that he used his oil company account—Triple A and Tee Oil Nig Ltd—for the transfer, not his BDC, because the BDC licence had been suspended at the time.
Counsel for the 1st defendant, Johnson Usman, SAN, objected to a question by Iheanacho, arguing that it was suggestive. Justice Nwite upheld the objection and directed the prosecutor to rephrase.
Usman said, “The licence of Triple A and Tee BDC Ltd, as at the time of the transactions, had been suspended.”
He told the court that the cash transactions from Ciroma were handled by his staff—Abdulkadir Mohammed and Kabir Haruna—and that there was also a naira-to-dollar equivalent transaction.
“The naira was transferred into Triple A and Tee Service Venture Ltd bank account. The naira also was converted into dollars and I sent the equivalent into Oceangate account,” he said.
During cross-examination by Buba’s counsel, Usman confirmed that the BDC company still operates.