EFCC PRESS RELEASE: Oil Theft: ARMY HANDS OVER VESSEL, 25 SUSPECTS TO EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on May 27, 2013 took possession of an alleged illegal oil bunkering vessel, suspected to be trans-loading unspecified quantity of fuel, believed to be Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).  The vessel, MT Swordfish, comprising two barges, was confiscated, while three crew members and two staff of Liberty Jetty Elegbata, Marina, Lagos (where the vessel was harboured) and twenty others were arrested.  

They were all handed over by Col H.I. Dasuki of 81 Division, Nigerian Army, to officials of the Commission.
The crew members are: Akume Surprise(Captain); Boglo Babatunde Peter; ThankGod Obozuruike; Korlee Uebari; Francis Eze; Gaius Ike; Peter James;  Hafeez Jalaruru; Olajumoke Sulaiman; Kelvin Ajike; Abdulraham Kareem;  Oluwaseun Owoade; Ifeanyi Lawrence; Alhassan Hoseli; Kennedy Adoge;  Bello Taofik; Ibrahim Ajibade;  Ibrahim Yakubu; Nafiu Useni; Kenneth Osei; Annas Mohammed; Ibrahim Mohammed; Hamisu Saidu; Sulaiman Musa and Umar Mohammed.

Also handed over are six trucks as exhibits  

Col. Dasuki, while handing over the vessel and crew to the Commission said the arrest was made at about 0400hrs on 22 May, 2013, following intelligence report. According to him, the arrest was made by men and officers of “OP MESA” who raided the Liberty Jetty, Marina.

Dasuki urged the Commission to carry out further investigation on the source of the petroleum products and the operations of the vessel.

Receiving the hand-over documents, Mr. Aliyu Aminu, Head, Counter-Terrorism & General Investigations, EFCC Zonal Office, Lagos, assured that the Commission will do its best in investigating the case. A sample of the product was taken by operatives of the Commission for analysis.

Bankole Used Non-Existent Companies to Divert Fund­­­ - Witness

An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Ahmed today told the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice E. S. Chukwu that former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, used non existent companies to divert public funds.

The former speaker is facing a 16-count criminal charge bordering on contract inflation and fraudulent embezzlement of public fund totalling N9 billion.  

At the resumed hearing of the case on May 28, 2013, the prosecution witness, Ibrahim Ahmed, who was lead in evidence by EFCC counsel, Festus Keyamo said that in the course of investigation, letters were written and sent to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, banks where the House maintained accounts, and the Accountant-General of the Federation for the details of the releases made to the Lower Chamber in respect of 2010 capital budget. Ibrahim added that a letter was also written to the Director-General of Bureau for Public Procurement for the current price of items mentioned in the petition against Bankole.

Ibrahim further told the court that from the responses, the contractors were identified and a letter was sent to the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, to verify the status of these companies.

The prosecution witness further told the court that based on the response from CAC, the investigative team decided to do a physical verification of the addresses of the companies as stated in the CAC response. However, he said none of the addresses was found to be genuine. Ibrahim gave the names of the non existent companies as Multigate Resources Limited, Wadata Global Company and Chiwama Nigeria Limited.

The witness also revealed that based on investigation, the contractors were discovered to have been paid.

Justice Chukwu has fixed June 12-13, 2013 for further hearing.

Wilson Uwujaren

Ag. Head, Media & Publicity

28^th May, 2013