The Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has arrested one of its
drivers, Nasiru Isa, for allegedly burgling a sealed house owned by Alex
Badeh, former chief of defence staff.
In January 2016, the EFCC
sealed off some pieces of property in Abuja owned by the former defence
chief, who is facing trial for allegedly diverting funds meant for the
military.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Wilson Uwujaren,
EFCC spokesman, said Isa was part of a robbery syndicate which
specialised in breaking into property sealed off by the anti-graft
agency.
He said a policeman, Aliyu Ismaila, is also a member of the gang.
According
to him, other members of the gang are Abubakar Jibrin, Abdulsalam Ado,
Ibrahim Babangida, Reuben Dauda, Hassan Aliyu, Sani Yusuf and Murtala
Mohammed.
Uwujaren said the suspects were caught in the act of breaking into Badeh’s property.
“On
August 30, 2016, operatives of the EFCC, as part of monitoring
activities on the sealed property, had gone to the site to execute a
search,” he said.
“However, members of the syndicate took to
their heels on sighting the operatives of the anti-graft agency. A
carpenter, Yakubu Muhammad, who was hired by the syndicate, was left
behind and was subsequently arrested by the operatives.
“The
carpenter, who has been cooperating with operatives, confessed that he
was not in the know of the illicit activity, as he was only brought in
by the syndicate to assist with the use of his carpentry tools to break
into the property.”
The EFCC spokesman said investigations showed
that some people moved about 12 bags believed to contain items linked
to money laundering into the property after it was sealed off.
“Investigations
revealed that one of those in the know about the goods was the brains
behind the scheming to steal them. The syndicate decided they would need
to subdue the security man at the property, which would mean they would
need to involve security personnel in the syndicate,” he said.
“Subsequently,
Isa was contacted. To further beef up the security aspect of the crime,
he also contacted his friend, Ismaila, who came for the ‘operation’
fully armed. In perpetrating the crime, Dauda had posed to be a senior
official of the EFCC, while Jibrin posed as an Intelligence police
officer in the inspector-general’s office.
“However, on August
30, 2016, they were caught in the act of breaking into the property,
having successfully overpowered the security guard at the entrance of
the property.”
A similar incident had happened in one of the Abuja residences of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In July, policemen guarding the property burgled it, stripping it bare.
The suspects were later dismissed from the force, and are currently facing burglary charges.
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