From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The suspect apprehended at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, in connection with the importation of bales of foreign currencies is yet to be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for diligent investigation.
An official of the Commission, who spoke to Daily Sun, under the condition of anonymity, disclosed that the arrest, which was made last week, followed the seizure of $128,000 and 1,725,000 Saudi Riyal delivered in three bales by an Ethiopian Airline aircraft.
The official equally disclosed that the imported currencies were yet to be released to the commission contrary to public opinion, while expressing optimism that the whole case file would come to them in due course.
Investigation conducted at the Bompai headquarters of the Nigeria Customs Service indicated that last minute efforts were being exercised to release the case.
A top management staff of the Customs Service told Daily Sun that there were procedures before effecting the transfer of such a high profile case to a sister security agency, adding that once all of that is done and satisfied, they would move the case and the suspect to the commission.
“At this moment, we have communicated with our headquarters, seeking approval to transfer the case, but we are waiting for the approval to come. It has not yet come,” he began.
“As a matter of procedure, too, we have to take a list of the numbers of each of the currencies before handing them over to the EFCC. Recording the numbers took our officers a few days to get done.”