EFCC Arrests Dubai-Bound Nigerian With $7 Million

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said yesterday that it has arrested one Abubakar Tijani Sheriff at the Muritala Muhammed Airport in Lagos for attempting to smuggle $7 million out of the country.

The accused, who is currently being held by the commission pending arraingnment in court, was arrested at the point of boarding a flight enroute Dubai.  

EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwajaren said the 24-year-old declared that he had a total sum of $4.5million on him but thorough screening and search showed that he was actually carrying over $7 million. 

 “He confessed that he was a courier for 20 individuals who hired him to courier the money for them to Dubai,” Uwajaren said. However, “investigations by the EFCC showed that Sheriff is a regular traveller and one of several couriers of illegal cash suspected to be proceeds of crime. His claims in respect of his accomplices are still being investigated by the Commission,” he added.

 “The Commission warns travellers who for any reason want to move bulk cash out of the country to do so through the banking system. Otherwise, they must be prepared to declare it and explain the source of the money,” he added.

People we need to end this incessant looting and subsequent laundering of money.

65 Year Old Grandma Hides 1.740kg Cocaine In Herbal Syrup

Luck betrayed a 65-year-old grandmother, Hassan Fatimat Abike also known as Chika Okoye, who attempted to smuggle 1.740kg of cocaine into London concealed in herbal syrup. 

It was not her fist time of going to London as the drug was packed in balloons and inserted in 10 plastic containers of herbal syrup to avoid detection.

The suspect was to board a British Airways flight when officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested her at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos on Wednesday. According to the Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, the suspect has two international passports that bear Hassan Fatimat Abike. 

Preliminary investigation revealed that she is also known as Chika Okoye. She speaks Ibo and Yoruba fluently. Her father is a native of Abeokuta while her mother hails from Owerri, Imo State. Abike has six children and many grandchildren. She currently lives alone in Owerri and sells clothes to earn a living. The drug found in her bag tested positive for cocaine.

I really don't understand what conditions could have pushed an elderly woman, a grandmother for Christ sake who should be an epitome of integrity and honorable moral conduct, to get involved in such shady business. Well let's see what further investigations will reveal.