The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has captured a serving senior officer of the Nigerian Air Force regarding the $2.1bn arms buy embarrassment.
It was learnt that the officer, Air Vice Marshal R.A. Ojuawo, was captured by agents of the EFCC at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on out of the nation.
A top source, who identifies with our reporter on state of secrecy on Tuesday, said Ojuawo was captured while going with the Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, to a meeting of the United States Africa Command in Germany on Sunday.
By, the United States Africa Command, also called AFRICOM, is one of the nine brought together soldier charges of the US Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany.
It is in charge of the US military operations and military relations with 53 African countries. Its territory of obligation covers all of Africa aside from Egypt, which is inside of the zone of obligation of the US Central Command.
The source, who trusted in our reporter, said, “The occasion, which they were going to go to, was about the exercises of the military in the battle against insurrection. AVM Ojuawo was the one that should convey the keynote address for the benefit of the Nigerian Air Force.
“Notwithstanding, a group of EFCC criminologists raged the air terminal and declined to permit him travel. All the senior military officers present begged the analysts yet they declined to tune in. We disclosed to them that we had contributed a great deal of time and vitality in assembling the report that Ojuawo should present.
“The Air Force had done practicality examines on the best way to restore Internally Displaced Persons and was going to introduce the report in Germany.
“We guaranteed them that quickly we were finished with the occasion, Ojuawo would return and visit the EFCC however the investigators said he was a flight hazard. How would he be able to escape when he was in the company of the CDS?”
It was learnt that Ojuawo had been welcomed by the commission a couple of weeks back and had even gone by the Idiagbon House base camp of the counter join organization, where he was cross examined nearby the quick past CDS, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), and was permitted to go.
By source in the NAF, Ojuawo was the Director of Operations when Badeh was the Chief of Air Staff.
Be that as it may, the Director of Information, Defense Headquarters, Brig.- Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said he didn’t know about such episode.
The safeguard representative said the EFCC had a decent association with the military, including that such an episode was far-fetched.
“I am not mindful of the occurrence. It is impossible that a wonder such as this would happen without my insight. My delegate was a piece of the escort and he never educated me of such an occurrence.
“We bolster the counter debasement war as devoted Nigerians and we won’t stow away such data,” the Defense representative expressed.
The representative for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said he couldn’t affirm the story, focusing on that he couldn’t say if the senior Air Force officer was in the guardianship of the office.
“I can’t affirm on the off chance that he was captured or not. I don’t know whether he’s in authority,” he said on the phone on Tuesday.
In the mean time, Badeh, who has been in the EFCC’s confinement for about 48 hours, is being examined for contracts totalling $930,500,690.00 which were recompensed under his administration.
It was assembled that the EFCC had subjected him to at least 18 hours of cross examination since he was kept on Monday.
It was likewise learnt that the commission would, this week, acquire a holding charge to empower it to confine the previous Chief of Defense Staff for over 48 hours.
The cash is said to be a piece of the $2.1bn, implied for the buy of arms, which was under the control of the Office of the National Security Adviser, then under the headship of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).
Badeh is likewise said to be noting questions on the non-determination of acquirement costs, nonattendance of agreement understandings, honor of agreements past approved edges, exchange of open assets for unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to procurements of the Public Procurement Act.
Nonetheless, another military source said a few of the officers, who were being grilled by the EFCC, did not have the alternative of declining to obey directions given to them on basic issues on account of the custom of the military.
There were signs that the Federal Government had conveyed security agents in all the global air terminals to keep those under scrutiny from escaping the nation.
The AVM, who has been confined close by the previous CDS, was among some Air Force officers; who were suggested for cross examination by the Presidential Panel on Arms Procurement.
Then, it was likewise accumulated that the EFCC had cross examined six serving Air Vice-Marshals, including Ojuawo and one A.M. Mamu.
six officers were tested after explanations made by the ex-CDS and the prompt past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu.
Arms trick: EFCC captures military boss at airplane terminal
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