Nigerian arrested with N1bn cash in Niger

The police in neighbouring Niger Republic arrested a
Nigerian carrying 4.6m Euros (N1.05bn) in cash at the Diori
Hamani Airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, on his way
to Dubai. However, the Nigerien authorities have refused to
send the seized funds back to Nigerian authorities.
The Nigerien police said they suspected that the man was
fleeing with the money in order to avoid being caught by
the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who
has been prosecuting an anti-corruption campaign since
assumption of office on May 29.
They also expressed worry that there has been a rise in the
number of Nigerians transferring huge sums of money in
cash through neighbouring countries.
The police in Niger are already working on the suspicion
that the money traffickers have accomplices within the
country.
Interestingly the authorities in Nigeria on Wednesday
claimed ignorance of the money seizure in the neighbouring
country though the Customs officers in Niger were already
kicking against repatriating the cash to Nigeria.
A media report in Niger on Saturday said the National
Union of Customs Officers at a press briefing “denounced
the request of the Nigerian authorities” to return the
seized money.
The Customs official said there had been several similar
seizures in Niamey from people trafficking money from
Nigeria, putting the amount that had been so seized in
several billions of naira.
They said the seized money had been mainly in dollars,
euros and pounds sterling, asking the Niger authorities to
allow the Customs officials to do their job without
interference.
When contacted, the Senior Special Adviser to the President
on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said he could
not speak on the development because his brief was to
speak for the President.
He therefore referred one of our correspondents to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“I speak for the President. On this kind of issues, I
will advice that you speak with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs,” he said.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the officials denied
knowledge of the seizure in Niger Republic. The ministry’s
spokesperson, Ogbole Ahmedu-Ode, said the ministry had
not received official communication on the arrest of any
Nigerian.
“I am hearing about this incident for the first time
from you, we have not received any communication
on the matter from any quarters,” he said over the
telephone.
The spokesman for the Nigerian Customs Service, Mr Wale
Adeniyi could not be reached for comments.
But a senior official of the Service in confidence said that
the issue had yet to be brought to the attention of the
agency.
The official said since the matter was a diplomatic issue,
there were protocols that must be adhered to before the
customs could step in.
The official said:
“As we speak now, the matter hasn’t been drawn to
our attention. This is a diplomatic matter that has
to be treated with caution in order to avoid
diplomatic row between both countries.
“The identity of the person in question has not been
established and it is the Nigerian embassy in Niger
that would verify that.
“After that is done, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
will be notified before other security agencies would
be invited on the matter.
“So, it is not something that the Customs will jump
into and start investigating because the Customs in
Niger don’t report directly to us in Nigeria.”
Punch