By Akanbi Kamaldeen
According to a reports by PUNCH, details have emerged on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission tracked and arrested former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, in Kaduna State after weeks of surveillance and intelligence gathering.
The EFCC also arrested two persons alleged to have harboured the former minister while he was on the run.
Mamman was convicted on 12 counts of money laundering and fraud amounting to N33.8bn linked to the diversion of funds from the Mambilla and Zungeru hydropower projects.
Sources within the commission disclosed that operatives spread their dragnet in search of Mamman immediately after a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced him to 75 years imprisonment in absentia last week.
According to the sources, the former minister was eventually tracked through his phone and found in an apartment in the Rigasa area of Kaduna State.
“Immediately the judgment was delivered, we spread our dragnet in search of him following weeks of intensive surveillance and intelligence gathering, but we eventually tracked him with his phone and found him in an apartment in the Rigasa area of Kaduna. Two people who harboured him have also been arrested,” one of the sources said.
The EFCC had earlier confirmed Mamman’s arrest during a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, said the former minister was arrested at about 3:30 a.m. in Kaduna.
Olukoyede described the arrest as a demonstration of the Federal Government’s resolve to combat corruption.
“About 14 to 15 months down the line, we secured a conviction on all 12 counts. But because the main defendant was not present, sentencing was shifted.
“On the 13th of this month, he was sentenced in absentia here. Since then, we have decided to activate our intelligence and surveillance operations, and we have been searching for him all over the place.
“I am happy to announce to Nigerians that at about 3:30 a.m. this morning, we arrested him somewhere in Kaduna.
“This is a test of the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria to the fight against corruption. It is to assure Nigerians that anyone who has misappropriated government or national resources will not go unpunished.
“The eagle eye of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will always catch up with you wherever you are hiding. So it is important for us to let Nigerians know that we are working. There is no area that we will not go into.”
PUNCH
