Department of State Services (DSS) has allegedly arrested Ibrahim Magu, acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to SaharaReporters, he was arrested over allegations of owning four properties acquired through recovered loots and diversion of the funds through a third party.
The arrest was made in Abuja on Monday afternoon and taken in for interrogation.
His arrest comes few weeks after Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation (AGF), asked the president to sack Magu as acting EFCC chairman.
Malami leveled ‘22 weighty’ allegations against Magu including the diversion of recovered loot.
Read Also: Malami Writes Buhari, Seeks Removal Of Acting EFCC Chairman, Magu Over ‘Diversion Of Recovered Loot’
Since his appointment in 2015, Magu’s nearly five-year incumbency as acting Chief of EFCC has been a wild play of controversies and allegations leveled against him.
In 2016, the senate refused to confirm his appointment, citing a DSS report accusing Magu of of living in a N40m mansion paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a retired air commodore who is allegedly involved in shady deals.
A part of the report reads;
This accommodation was not paid for from the commission’s finances, but by one Umar Mohammed, air commodore retired, a questionable businessman who has subsequently been arrested by the secret service.
For the furnishing of the residence, Magu enlisted the Federal Capital Development Authority to award a contract to Africa Energy, a company owned by the same Mohammed, to furnish the residence at the cost of N43m.
Investigations show that the acting EFCC chairman regularly embarked on official and private trips through a private jet owned by Mohammed. In one of such trips, Magu flew to Maiduguri alongside Mohammed with a bank MD who was being investigated by the EFCC over complicity in funds allegedly stolen by the immediate past petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Furthermore, the EFCC boss has so far maintained a high-profile lifestyle. This is exemplified by his preference for first-class air travels. On 24 June, 2016, he flew Emirate airlines first-class to Saudi Arabia to perform lesser hajj at the cost of N2.9m.
This is in spite of Mr President’s directive to all public servants to fly economy class. Magu has fostered a beneficial relationship with Mohammed who by his confession approaches clients for possible exploitation, favours and associated returns.
However, despite the senate’s repudiation of Magu’s appointment situated on the DSS report, President Muhammadu Buhari re-nominated him.
