Date Published: 08/15/09

N2.5 billion scam: EFCC arraigns ex-cutoms boss, 5 others

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday arraigned the immediate past Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Hamman Bello Hammed and five others at a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on a 46 count charge bordering on alleged N2.5billion custom duty scam.

Others arraigned with Hammed are Tajudeen Olalere, General Manager, Vaswani Group, Lukman Hussain, a clearing agent, Hannatu Sulaiman, a Custom Comptroller in charge of Apapa Wharf, Lagos, Popular Foods Limited and Silver Maritime( Shipping ) Company Limited.

At a crowded court session presided over by Justice Tijani Abubakar, counsel to the EFCC, Messrs Rotimi Jacob; Chile Okoroma and Adebisi Adeniyi said that all the accused and their counsel had been served with the charges preferred against them. Professor Gabriel Olawoyin, SAN, leading four other counsel( Messrs J.E.Gbadebo; O.A Owolabi; J.O Okoro and S.A Ayoyin) stood in for the 1 st and 3 rd accused; A. O Olaleyin and E.C. Okenwa appeared for the 2 nd and 4 th accused, Soji Toke and A.M Iyako represented the 5 th accused while Emmanuel Toro and C. Umar held brief for the 6 th accused. The 46 count charges were read to all the accused and they all pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

A mild drama played itself out at the court when Olawoyin, desperate to get the Judge consider a bail application for his clients, argued that he be allowed to make oral application for bail after filling the same application on Thursday, August 13 th , 2009. He hinged his argument on the fact that “none of the charges against my clients relate to felony. They are minor offences”. The request was opposed by the EFCC and the Judge. One of the counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacob said he needed time to respond to the bail application prepared by Olawoyin while the Judge refused to be “over-stressed” by such insistence on bail for his clients on their day of arraignment. Olawoyin’s failure to pull through with his bail application, prevented counsel to other accused persons from making a case for bail for their clients.

Thereafter, Justice Abubakar adjourned the matter till August 18 th, 2009 and ordered that Hammed, Olalere and Husain be remanded in Ikoyi Prison while the 6 th accused: Hannatu Sulaiman was ordered to be kept in Kirikiri Prison. The accused were arrested on Tuesday by the EFCC .

It would be recalled that shortly after the Federal Government deported the Vaswani brothers and some of their top aides over cases of economic sabotage and evasion of custom duties on goods imported into the country, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri vowed that all those found to have aided and abetted the Vaswani Group against the economic interests of the nation would be un-masked and prosecuted.

“The Vaswani brothers are based in Europe. They are out to destroy the economy of this country. They believe that they can have their way because it is believed that Nigeria is a corrupt country. Whoever is involved would be dealt with decisively.”, Waziri had promised. The arraignment of the six accused is the fulfillment of that promise.