The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ordered that a man named Fred Ajudua should go back to prison. Fred Ajudua is a businessman who was very popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is being accused of cheating a German company out of $1 million (about 1.5 billion naira) more than 30 years ago.
The case against him is very old. It started in the early 1990s when he was first charged for using tricks to collect money from someone in a scam known in Nigeria as a “419” fraud.
Mr. Ajudua was first brought to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Josephine Oyefeso. Later, the case was moved to another judge, Justice Mojisola Dada, at the Lagos State High Court.
In 2018, Mr. Ajudua asked the court to grant him bail (this means to allow him to stay out of prison while the case continues). He said he was very sick. But the judge, Justice Dada, refused the bail, saying the case had taken too long already and needed to move forward.
Later, his lawyer, Mr. Olalekan Ojo (SAN), took the case to the Court of Appeal. The Appeal Court said that everyone has a right to bail and allowed Mr. Ajudua to stay out of prison.
But the EFCC was not happy with this decision. They took the matter to the Supreme Court — the highest court in Nigeria.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeal made a mistake. It said Mr. Ajudua must go back to prison right away. It also told Justice Mojisola Dada to continue hearing the case.
Now, the case will continue in court, and Mr. Ajudua will stay in prison while the trial goes on.
This case teaches us that justice can take time, but the law is still very important, no matter how long ago something happened.
