Re: Bank Chief Nabbed Over Possession Of $3.1 million At Lagos Airport

C/O Akwa Ibom State Secretriat, Abak Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Email: [email protected] +234 7056429091 Campaign for Probity and Integrity 07 December 2009 The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria Abuja, FCT. Dear Sir, Re: Bank Chief Nabbed Over Possession Of $3.1 million At Lagos Airport On the cover page of the Guardian edition of Sunday, 6 December 2009 was a report with a banner headline: Bank Chief Nabbed Over Possession Of $3.1 million At Lagos Airport (copy attached). The report avoided names of persons and institutions but succeeded in putting the basic message across. According to the report, a Deputy General Manager of a recently rescued bank was caught on 11 November 2009 at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on the suspicion of money laundering and the matter transferred by the police to the force headquarters, Abuja for further investigation. The Campaign for Probity and Integrity, an independent watchdog and whistleblower was bothered by the veiled reference to the suspects but would understand why the newspaper would choose the path of caution so as not to fall victim of libel laws. Interestingly, the online version of the same story contained the name of the Bank Chief named as Mrs. Etuk. For effective investigation and prosecution of the suspects if found guilty, CAPi, on the strength of the clue offered by the Guardian report, launched an investigation into the incident and found out the facts and faces behind the incident. On the 11th day of November 2009 at about 0900hrs, one Mrs. Emem Etuk who claimed to be travelling to Abuja through the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos was arrested by the Aviation Security on duty in possession of $3.1 million and handed over to the Airport Police Command on the suspicion of money laundering. She was taken to the divisional headquarters of the police at the airport. One of Mrs. Etuk’s bags was found to contain $3.1million cash and she could not offer satisfactory reason as to how she came about it or her mission with the sum. The case was transferred from the divisional headquarters to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Command at Beesam, Mafoluku, on the airport road. There was an immediate attempt by an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to get the case referred to the anti-corruption agency but the police hierarchy at the Airport Command refused and promptly put a call through to the Commissioner of Police in charge of the command. The commissioner sought the intervention of the Inspector General of Police who, in turn, ordered that the case be transferred to Abuja ‘for further investigation’. Thus, on 25 November 2009, Mrs. Etuk was transferred to the force headquarters, Abuja after she had been detained in police custody in Lagos for two weeks. Mrs. Etuk as at the time of arrest was the Deputy General Manager in charge of Victoria Island (3) Branch of Bank PHB. Her husband, on interrogation, was found to be a special adviser on Utilities to Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief (Dr.) Godswill Akpabio. She was also found to be the account officer to Akwa Ibom State Government and that the state has huge deposits with the bank. In addition, Mrs. Etuk was discovered to have won the state government account for Bank PHB having known the governor ever before his election into office and in her days as an employee with Zenith Bank Plc. It is important to note that the suspect had no covering letter or any document whatsoever from the bank indicating that she was engaging in funds transfer on behalf of the bank in her official capacity. Police investigations also revealed that a day before her arrest, the bank had actually done funds transfer to Abuja in their characteristic manner through the authorised persons with appropriate covering letter. Intelligence reports indicate that Mrs. Etuk was laundering the funds on behalf of Chief (Dr.) Godswill Akpabio. We therefore appeal to you to use your good offices to cause an immediate investigation into the incident so as to ascertain the mission of a banker with about half a billion naira cash in such manner and circumstances as presented above. This has become important in view of the precarious situation the Nigerian banks have found themselves at the expense of millions of genuine depositors. We cannot ignore incidents like this and claim we are sanitising the banking, nay the financial and other sectors of the economy. We are also disturbed by the fact that the allegedly laundered funds might have been stolen from the impoverished people of Akwa Ibom State where hunger and poverty are ingrained in the lives of the majority of the people. We shall be much obliged if relevant anti-corruption agencies would be caused to also act on this clear lead to launch a man-hunt for the faces behind the incident for prosecution. We are witnesses to high wire efforts to sweep the matter under the carpet because of the personalities involved. This explains why the case did not attract any media attention weeks after the incident until the Guardian report. This is particularly suspicious because the airport police are known for weekly parade of arrested suspects and weekly press conference where anti-crime efforts of the airport command of the police are presented to the media. But in the case of Mrs. Etuk, the police have kept mum until the Guardian’s enquiry. A member of Governor Akpabio’s kitchen cabinet who confided in our investigator on condition of anonymity said the governor had told some close aides in confidence that he was on top of the situation and could manage any issue having to do with any law enforcement agency and particularly the anti-corruption bodies, that is, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. He had also touted his close relationship with the wife of the President, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua. A highly placed government house source informed our investigator that about the period of Mrs. Etuk’s arrest, the Akwa Ibom State Accountant-General was a guest of one of the anti-corruption agencies in Abuja to answer questions relating to some shoddy dealings of the state government. The accountant-general returned unscathed having got the assurance of his principal that the Abuja end had been tidied up. The money in question, we gathered was Abuja-bound to reward ‘friends’ of the governor in the anti-corruption agencies and other government circles. We count on your prompt action and express our support for the ongoing efforts to sanitise the financial sector among others. Thank you. Yours faithfully, For: Campaign for Probity and Integrity Prince James S. Umoren Nse Akpan Udofia General Secretary Executive Coordinator Cc: The President, Federal Republic of Nigeria Chief Justice of Nigeria; Inspector General of Police; Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission Director-General, State Security Service; Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) Chief (Dr.) Godswill Akpabio MD/CEO, Bank PHB

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });