EFCC says some suspects are hiding in United Arab Emirate

– The commission’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that some suspects are still in the anti-graft’s custody in Abuja and Lagos – The commission insisted it has the capacity to prosecute everyone involved graft The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has deployed foreign forces after fleeing suspects accused of being involved in the sharing of $2.1 billion arms procurement fund.

The EFCC took the ongoing anti-corruption war further by sending officers of the global police organisation Interpol after suspects who have been indicted for graft in Nigeria.

The Guardian reports that a source within the agency made the disclosure on February 23, saying such indicted persons who have escaped from Nigeria would certainly be caught and prosecuted. The source said: “There is no hiding place. Interpol is helping in fishing them out.” The EFCC in a bid to arrest and recover all stolen loot strengthen its tie with the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria in the area of financial investigations both in Nigeria and outside the country. The commission while lamenting some setback in the fight against graft disclosed that some Asian countries have not been assisting the auditors with their investigations. The anti-graft agency has assured Nigerians that it has the capacity to prosecute everyone so far arrested, interrogated and detained in the on-going $2.1 billion arms scandal. It was gathered that the Interpol is already on the trail of the chairman of defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, who is alleged to have stolen pension money. He is believed to be hiding in the United Arab Emirate (UAE). The country might not be a safe haven for him as it would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed an agreement with UAE leaders to aid the repatriation of Nigeria’s stolen money as well as wanted corrupt persons. The source refused to expose other suspects on the Interpol list, though former special adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan on amnesty programme, Kingsley Kuku and the former Comptroller General of Customs, Abdullahi Inde Dikko, Diezani Alison-Madueke are currently not in Nigeria. The agency’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that some suspects are still in the commission’s custody, adding that some are in Abuja while others are in Lagos state. He said the commission has a court permission papers to continue holding them, especially as investigations were still ongoing. The commission intensified its fight against corruption following the arrest of a former national security adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki by operatives of the Directorate of State Security (DSS), on December 1, 2015. The former NSA was handed over to the EFCC on allegations of embezzling a whooping sum of $2.1 billion and another N643 billion arms procurement funds.

The agency which had arrested over 40 persons in its renewed anti-corruption war explained that some of the accused persons have not been charged to court because investigations are still ongoing. The EFCC recently explained why it does not need former president Goodluck Jonathan as its witness in order to prove its money laundering case against the national publicity secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, over the seven counts charge of fraud filed against him and his company, Destra Investments Limited. The PDP spokesman and his company are being prosecuted by the EFCC for allegedly receiving N400m meant for the purchase of arms from Sambo Dasuki. The prosecution alleged that part of the money was used by Metuh to fund the 2015 presidential election campaign for the PDP.