A prosecution witness has told the Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, how he allegedly lost N3.9 million to an investment scheme run by Fadama Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society.
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Testifying before Justice Sharon T. Ishaya on Wednesday, December 10, the witness, Dajok Dakung Godfrey, narrated how the defendants, Okewole Dayo and Bishop Jonas Katung, allegedly lured him and others into investing in the cooperative through a televised presentation.
Dayo and Katung are standing trial on 23 counts of obtaining money by false pretence amounting to N178.8 million.
Led in evidence by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel Ibrahim Buba, the 42-year-old civil servant said he first encountered the scheme in May 2010 when Bishop Katung appeared on television urging the public to invest in the cooperative.
He said he believed the presentation because it was delivered by “a man of God”.
According to him, he visited the cooperative’s temporary office in Jos on 4 June 2010, purchased a registration form for N1,000 and deposited an initial sum of N400,000. He continued making payments until his total contribution reached N3.9 million.
The witness told the court that the cooperative paid 10 per cent monthly interest until December 2011, when members received a message asking them to “hold on”. No further payments were made throughout 2012.
Godfrey said Dayo was introduced as the secretary and executive director of the cooperative, while Bishop Katung presented himself as chairman or president.
He recalled a meeting at Lamond Hotel, Jos, where Bishop Katung assured investors that issues would be resolved, but said “nothing came out of it”.
He identified receipts issued to him by the cooperative, which were tendered and admitted in evidence as Exhibit H.
He also told the court that the cooperative deducted 1 per cent monthly from members’ savings, amounting to N261,000 in his case.
Under cross-examination by counsel to the first defendant, C.I. Nwogbo, Godfrey admitted he never made direct payments to Dayo. He confirmed that the televised presentation did not mention any partner and that he only came to know Dayo when the scheme began to collapse.
He acknowledged making a written statement to the EFCC on 14 August 2014, which was admitted as Exhibit PW3A, and confirmed it was in his handwriting and reflected the truth.
When shown the cooperative’s bylaws (Exhibit E), he stated that Dayo’s name did not appear as secretary. He added that he did not instruct the cooperative on how to manage his funds, stressing that his petition to the EFCC was to recover his money and ensure proper investigation.
Counsel to the second defendant, G.G. Achi, asked whether he knew Bishop Katung before the crisis. Godfrey said he only knew him as a clergyman whose service he had attended once, though he could not recall the date.
He confirmed seeing Bishop Katung at the meeting held to discuss a possible settlement but said he did not record minutes of the deliberation.
With no re-examination from the prosecution, Justice Ishaya adjourned the case to 19 February 2026 for further hearing.
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