Senator Obanikoro and wife
Alhaja Moroophat Onikoro, the wife of a former Minister of State
for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who has been in the United
States of America since June, 2015, has been arrested by the Department
of State Services (DSS) in front of her husband’s house located on Layi
Ajayi-Bembe Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos on Thursday.
Competent security source said Mrs. Obanikoro was arrested as she
allegedly attempted to make away with vital documents related to the
N4.7 billion allegedly diverted from the Office of the National Security
Adviser.
The source said she allegedly sneaked into Nigeria with the sole aim of ‘evacuating incriminating documents’ from
her home only to be whisked away by eagle-eyed security men who had
been trailing her as she arrived the country from abroad.
According to a report by SaharaReporters, a close source said, “We
arrested Alhaja Onikoro this morning. Although she bears Onikoro, she
is the wife of Obanikoro. She was arrested with some vital documents.
She is currently in our office in Shangisha, Lagos, and will later be
transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for more
investigation.”
Reports revealed that after interrogation at the EFCC office in
Ikoyi, Lagos on Thursday, she was allowed to go home on condition that
she would return on Friday (today).
“We released her after interrogation. The woman cooperated
fully with us and we allowed her to go because we don’t hold people
hostage. We asked her questions and she answered respectfully,” a source in the EFCC stated.
EFCC had, last month, raided the ex-minister’s house and made away
with some documents said to have linked Obanikoro to the N4.7bn
allegedly siphoned from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
We had earlier reported
it here last week that EFCC sealed a house belonging to Obanikoro’s two
sons, Babajide and Gbolahan, on Banana Island. Obanikoro’s wife, who
was in the house at the time of the search, alleged that her rights were
abused and had even sued the EFCC for N100m.
“When she sued the EFCC, she thought that would be the end of
the matter. Unknown to her, we kept surveillance on the house and
swiftly arrested her with the evidence we needed,” a source said.
EFCC investigations had revealed that N4.7 billion was paid into a
bank account of Sylvan McNamara, a company in which Obanikoro’s two sons
are said to be directors.
The anti-graft agency also said it was in possession of a CCTV
footage which captured Obanikoro and three others loading the billions
of naira unto a plane at the Lagos airport in 2014.
“Let Obanikoro keep making noise in the US instead of him to be
a man and come and defend himself like others. He has finished his
academic programme in the US since April but has refused to return to
Nigeria because he knows he is guilty.
“Obanikoro has put his family in trouble by using his sons to
launder money. In this age of BVN (Bank Verification Number), it is
difficult to get away with bank fraud,” a reliable source said.
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