EFCC, Prison Officials Fight Dirty Over Custody Of Maina After 8 Years Jail Term

Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) clashed on Monday over custody of former pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina after he was handed an eight-year jail sentence.

The drama unfolded as Maina was led out of the court at the close of trial by officers of the correctional center, but the EFCC insisted he went with them.

Both agencies finally reached common ground and drove out of the court premises with Maina heading to the Kuje Correctional Center.

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja had sentenced Maina to eight years’ imprisonment on 12 counts bordering on money laundering.

The court had found him guilty of inducing staff of Fidelity Bank to open bank accounts for him without conducting due diligence and money laundering.

Justice Abang found Maina guilty of concealing his true identity as a signatory to accounts opened in two banks – UBA and Fidelity bank – by using the identity of his family members without their knowledge.

These accounts had cash deposits of N300million, N500million, and N1.5billion

The court held that Maina stole monies meant for pensioners as he could not prove where he got them from.

Justice Abang also held that through Maina’s service as a civil servant, his salary and emoluments will not amount to the monies in these accounts.