Licensed Customs clearing and freight-forwarding agent, Fawole Abiola Aremu, has denied introducing Dr Israel Agimor Eshanekpe to any serving Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs (ACG) in connection with a disputed ₦200 million business transaction.
For Aremu, what began as a business arrangement over the financing and clearance of 10 containers has now become a dispute playing out in the public space, with allegations of fraud and claims of involvement by senior Customs officials.
The licensed Customs clearing and freight-forwarding agent is pushing back strongly against one particular claim which he says has been repeatedly circulated online: that he introduced Dr Israel Agimor Eshanekpe to an Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in connection with the transaction.
Aremu says that never happened.
Speaking at a press briefing, the 23-year maritime and logistics practitioner said he had no reason to involve any serving Assistant Comptroller-General or senior Customs officer in the private commercial arrangement and insisted that no serving officer of the Nigeria Customs Service was involved at any stage.
“I state categorically that at no time did I introduce Dr Eshanekpe to, or take him into the office of, any Assistant Controller-General of Customs,” Aremu said.
His clarification comes against the backdrop of a dispute with Eshanekpe over a financing arrangement entered into in July 2026 for the proposed clearance of 10 containers.
According to Aremu, the two men were introduced while he was seeking financing for the transaction. After discussions, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which Eshanekpe was expected to provide ₦200 million to finance the business.
The agreement, Aremu explained, provided that Eshanekpe’s capital would be repaid after the successful completion of the transaction, while profits would be shared on a 70:30 basis in his favour.
The arrangement, however, did not proceed as initially planned. Aremu said Eshanekpe provided ₦96 million rather than the agreed ₦200 million and undertook to provide the outstanding balance later.
It was during this period, Aremu said, that Eshanekpe requested to verify the transaction personally. The two subsequently met at the Nigeria Customs Service headquarters, where Aremu said he introduced him to two retired Customs officers, DC Williams Okpabi and AC Illiya Binga, who were assisting with the facilitation.
That meeting, according to Aremu, has since been at the centre of a narrative he considers inaccurate.
He maintains that the two retired officers were the only Customs personnel he introduced to Eshanekpe and that there was no meeting with an Assistant Comptroller-General.
“I restate unequivocally that no Assistant Comptroller-General or any serving officer of the NCS was involved at any stage,” he said.
For Aremu, this distinction is important because the alleged involvement of a senior Customs officer has become part of the wider allegations surrounding the dispute.
Three days after the partial payment, Aremu said Eshanekpe informed him that he no longer wanted to proceed with the transaction and demanded his money back. He alleged that Eshanekpe accused him of being a fraudster and claimed to have verified with security officials that the containers did not exist.
Aremu rejected the allegation and maintained that the transaction was genuine.
He said the pressure to refund the money eventually led him to source funds and return ₦16 million, with an undertaking to settle the outstanding amount subsequently.
The matter later moved beyond the two businessmen.
Aremu said that in September 2026, counsel representing the Martins Vincent Otse Initiative contacted him over the allegations. He said he again denied any fraud and maintained that the matter was a contractual commercial relationship.
A formal settlement agreement was subsequently presented to him, according to Aremu, and he signed it.
The agreement acknowledged the ₦16 million already refunded and recorded an outstanding balance of ₦80 million, which Aremu undertook to pay on or before October 2, 2026.
He said he was unable to complete the balance by the stipulated date but made another payment of ₦14 million, bringing the total amount refunded to ₦30 million.
Aremu said he has documentary evidence of the payments.
The dispute, however, soon spilled further into the public arena.
He alleged that on October 8, 2026, social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, went online to describe him as a fraudster and repeated the claim that an Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs had been involved in the transaction.
For Aremu, that allegation crosses the line from a private business disagreement into an issue capable of damaging the reputation of people who, he insists, had nothing to do with the transaction.
He said the repeated reference to an Assistant Comptroller-General was being used to heighten the sensational nature of the dispute, while insisting that no serving or retired Customs ACG was involved in the transaction.
Aremu also rejected the suggestion that the dispute should be treated as evidence of criminal conduct.
“This remains a civil commercial dispute between business partners—one that has been subjected to external pressure and trial by media,” he said.
Despite the controversy, Aremu said he remained committed to meeting his outstanding financial obligations and resolving the matter with Eshanekpe.
He also disclosed that he had instructed his legal counsel to examine the legal implications of what he described as defamatory publications.
But beyond the money involved, Aremu appears particularly concerned about what the allegations could mean for a professional reputation built over more than two decades in the maritime and logistics sector.
He urged his clients, business associates and members of the public to disregard what he described as false and calculated narratives circulating online, arguing that neither his reputation nor that of any serving or retired Customs officer should be dragged into what he considers a private contractual disagreement.
“When trade disputes go wrong, like we have in this case, I elect to be on the path of civility and decorum without mudslinging,” he said.
He added that he remained hopeful of reaching an amicable settlement with Eshanekpe.
“For emphasis, I wish to state again that I am not a fraudster, I am not on the run and no Customs ACG, serving or retired, was involved in this transaction as falsely narrated,” Aremu said.
At the heart of Aremu’s defence, therefore, is a simple but significant distinction: he acknowledges that he took Eshanekpe to the Nigeria Customs Service headquarters to verify the transaction and introduced him to two retired Customs officers, but firmly denies ever taking him to the office of, or introducing him to, an Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs.
That, he says, is the part of the story that has been lost amid the social media storm surrounding the commercial dispute.
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