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Buhari; Issoufou
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The police in
neighbouring Niger Republic have arrested a Nigerian carrying 4.6m Euros (₦1.05bn) in cash. The man was arrested at the Diori Hamani
Airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, en route Dubai in the United Arab
Emirate. The
Nigerien police said they suspected that the man was fleeing with the money in
order to avoid being caught by the administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari, who has been prosecuting an anti-corruption campaign since assumption
of office on May 29.
They
also expressed worry that there had been an upsurge in the number of Nigerians
trafficking huge sums of money in cash through the neighbouring country.
The
police in Niger are already working on the suspicion that the money traffickers
have accomplices in the country.
The
Punch report continues:
The
arrest of the Nigerian has been a big news item in the Nigerien newspapers and
television stations.
Curiously
the authorities here on Wednesday claimed ignorance of the money seizure in the
neighbouring country though the Customs officers in Niger were already kicking
against repatriating the cash to Nigeria.
A
media report in Niger on Saturday said the National Union of Customs Officers
at a press briefing “denounced the request of the Nigerian authorities” to
return the seized money.
The
Customs official said there had been several similar seizures in Niamey from
people trafficking money from Nigeria, putting the amount that had been so
seized in several billions of naira.
They
said the seized money had been mainly in dollars, euros and pounds sterling,
asking the Niger authorities to allow the Customs officials to do their job
without interference.
When
contacted, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,
Mr. Femi Adesina, said he could not speak on the development because his brief
was to speak for the President.
He
therefore referred one of our correspondents to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
“I
speak for the President. On this kind of issues, I will advice that you speak
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
At
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the officials denied knowledge of the seizure
in Niger Republic. The ministry’s spokesperson, Ogbole Ahmedu-Ode, said the
ministry had not received official communication on the arrest of any Nigerian.
“I
am hearing about this incident for the first time from you, we have not
received any communication on the matter from any quarters,” he said over the
telephone.
Calls
to the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Emeka Obua,
did not elicit any response.
He
also did not respond to text messages to his mobile telephone on the issue.
The
Nigerien embassy in Abuja could not be reached for comment on Wednesday as
calls to the mission’s phone lines failed to connect.
The
spokesman for the Nigerian Customs Service, Mr Wale Adeniyi could not be
reached for comments as text message and repeated calls made to his mobile line
were not replied as of the time (8.30pm) of filling this report.
But
a senior official of the Service told one of our correspondents in confidence
that the issue had yet to be brought to the attention of the agency.
The
official said since the matter was a diplomatic issue, there were protocols
that must be adhered to before the customs could step in.
The
official said, “As we speak now, the matter hasn’t been drawn to our attention.
This is a diplomatic matter that has to be treated with caution in order to
avoid diplomatic row between both countries.
“The
identity of the person in question has not been established and it is the
Nigerian embassy in Niger that would verify that.
“After
that is done, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be notified before other
security agencies would be invited on the matter.
“So, it is not something
that the Customs will jump into and start investigating because the Customs in
Niger don’t report directly to us in Nigeria.”
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