A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the former Group
Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, yesterday gave detailed account of how the sum of
$9.7 million and £74,000 kept in a fireproof safe was recovered from
his house (Yakubu).
The witness, Mr. Waziri Adamu Nitte, told a Federal High Court in
Abuja that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on
February 7 received an intelligence that there was a house located at
Sabon Tasha in Kaduna State where some foreign currencies were stocked.
The second prosecution witness who was led in evidence by the
prosecuting Counsel, Ben Ikani, narrated how operatives of the
anti-graft agency, acting on the information obtained a valid search
warrant and proceeded to Kaduna State whereby they were able to locate
the house.
Nitte, who is a Deputy Superintendent with the EFCC said, on
locating the house, they requested to meet with the caretaker who turned
out to be one Bitrus Yakubu, a relative of the defendant.
“We introduced ourselves to him and told him what brought us.
We also showed him the search warrant we came along with. We thereafter
brought an expert and instructed that the door be broken and we were
able to have access to the house where a search was conducted.
“We conducted the search and were able to recover an ash
coloured (Gubabi Brown) four doors drawer safe, we also recovered a
white coloured excess PC and there and then, we listed the items as
recovered item, read it over to Bitrus and other witnesses that were
present.
“Because of the sensitivity of the items we recovered in the
house, we took them along with Bitrus down to our office. We then
engaged the services of a lock expert to unlock the safe. All these were
camera-recorded.
“When unlocked, we saw foreign currencies mostly packed in
different polythene bags stocked in all the four drawers. We employed
the services of some local experts known as “WAPA” where Bureau De
Change operatives usually work.
“We engaged three people, Mohammed Musa Al- Hassan, Akibu
Daudu, and Kabiru Abdulaziz to help us count the money. The money was
duly counted all on camera and the whole amount in the safe after the
counting was $9,772,800 and 74,000 pound sterling.
“All this was done in the presence of Mr. Bitrus Yakubu and also recorded on camera” the
witness said and added that in the course of his investigation, he
witnessed the statement of Bitrus Yakubu and additional statement of the
defendant, Andrew Yakubu.
0 comments:
Post a Comment