Responding to a media report that agency detectives had searched the home of Paul Boroh, the former head of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for ex Niger Delta militants, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) confirmed the raid, but not the supposed amounts recovered.
Wilson Uwujaren, in an interview with Premium Times, said on Wednesday that “I am not aware of such discoveries,” making reference to a ThisDay Newspaper claim that $9 million was recovered as a result of an early Tuesday morning raid by the EFCC and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on Boroh’s Abuja residence.
Retired Brigadier General Boroh, who had headed the Amnesty Programme for three years, was fired from his post a week ago by the President on corruption related charges. Boroh was immediately replaced with foreign policy expert Charles Dokubo.
The EFCC spokesman confirmed ThisDay’s report of the early morning (3:00 AM) raid at Gwarimpa Estate in Abuja, though he gave no indication about how much was discovered in the search.
Boroh’s wife, Mrs. Ibinye Boroh at a press briefing with family lawyer Olusola Oke, has since denied the claims by the paper about the amount recovered.
“The publication by a section of the press stating the contrary is fabricated, false in its entirety, malicious and calculated to mislead the public,” she said, confirming the raid, but not the outcome.
Mr. Boroh has been in the custody of the EFCC since Monday, it is reported.
Family lawyer Oke refuting details of the ThisDay report as “disparaging” and “fallacious”, asked for a retraction within 48 hours.
Mr. Boroh is just the latest in a series of former heads of the controversial Presidential Amnesty Programme who have been investigated for embezzlement and looting of public funds. Boroh’s predecessor in the Jonathan Administration, Kingsley Kuku, is still at large, and may have fled the country since 2015.