Nigerian Senate President, Bukola Saraki is currently in court over allegations of corruption, but it seems it is not only the Nigerian senator that is interested in hoarding Nigerian money, but is two top security details have been exposed recently. The two men, Abdulrasheed Hamidu Maigari and George Mwatapwa Ibbi led a heist and carted away N310 Million from a bureau de change that was transporting the money to the senator.
Abdulrasheed Hamidu Maigari was reported to have led the robbery with another seven soldiers. According to Sahara reporters, the security men ambushed the operator of the Bureau de change,a nd forced him to give them the money on November 20th, 2015, but the DSS and Mr. Saraki conspired to cover the heist to protect the senate president further embarrassment and Nigerians raising eyebrow on the said stolen funds.
Local media in Nigeria have recently reported how the senate president who had been in corruption turmoil since assuming office is planning to bribe his way out of the recent code of conduct tribunal accusing him of siphoning funds meant for his state while he was governor of Kwara state.
Also Bukola Saraki and the DSS decided to put a mute on the news getting out to the public as it would confirm the speculations that Saraki had been using Bureau de change agents to launder funds while he was governor of Kwara state.
When the covered-up heist was published to the media, Bukola Saraki sent a press statement to few Nigerian media houses confirming the news of his security detail masterminding the heist, but the real truth of the heist was not revealed as some of the media houses suggested they were working on Saraki plea to conceal the information.
In Bukola Saraki statement released in the Nigerian media, he had denied that the money belonged to him, and the police and DSS have concluded, and according to law enforcement investigation, the money belonged to an unnamed bureau the change.
But an anonymous source in the DSS said that Mr Saraki is only deceiving himself, as the police were not allowed to investigate the case, because the DSS director general, Lawal Daura, kept police away from the case, and that is the reason are yet to release a statement on the case as they are working on a predetermined case, Sahara reporters reported.
This is the statement Bukola Saraka issued out to some selected Nigeria media
N310m Robbery: Again, Count Me Out
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki today (Tuesday) dismissed claims by the online medium, SaharaReporters, that he was the owner of the N310m said to have been stolen during a robbery operation involving some military and State Security Service (SSS) officials.
In a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki said the stolen money did not belong to him and that he did not know the owner, who is said to be a Bureau De Change operator.
“The Senate President was in Paris attending the Globe COP 21 Conference for Legislators on the Climate Change when we read the Sahara Reporters version of the report on a statement issued by the spokesperson of the SSS.
“The initial reaction of the Senate President when his attention was drawn to the SaharaReporters story in Paris was that the owners and their sponsors of the online medium simply wanted to draw him into a needless controversy and therefore they should be ignored. However, on his return to Abuja Monday night when many of his friends and well wishers expressed concern over his silence on the report, it became necessary for him to make clarification on it.
“We want to say categorically that Dr. Saraki is not the owner of the stolen money. He does not know the owner who is said to be a Bureau de change operator. The Police that investigated the robbery incident and the SSS, which issued a statement on it, can confirm that there is no link between the Senate President with the ownership of the money.
“Unfortunately, two of the suspects in the case are said to be part of the men attached to the security team of the Senate President. As anybody could confirm, the SSS selects its officers who are attached to top officials. In most cases, the principal does not select who work in his security team.
“In fact, the first time the Senate President heard about the incident was when the Commissioner of Police, Abuja, requested the Aide-in-Camp to get his permission for the SSS agents to report to his office in connection with an on-going investigation on a robbery incident.
“To further put a lie to the claims by SaharaReporters, Dr. Saraki hereby requests that the security agencies involved in the investigation should make further public clarification on the case so as to enlighten members of the public.
“The Senate President just like any interested Nigerian followed the police investigation as it progresses, believing that justice will be done at the end of the day.
“The report by SaharaReporters is another case of manipulation and distortion of facts and situations to achieve some sinister purposes. This online medium is, with every false reports it publishes against the person and office of the Senate President discrediting itself and making it clear that it is not worth believing by reasonable members of the public,” the statement added.
Signed
Yusuph Olaniyonu
Special Adviser to the Senate President