- As Fresh Revelations Emerge On Why Buhari Suspended Magu
By Kolawole Ojebisi
Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammad Adamu, has ordered the withdrawal of policemen attached to Mr. Ibrahim Magu, suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the directive, officers guarding the official and private houses of the former anti-corruption czar are expected to be withdrawn.
The IGP also on Friday directed the immediate withdrawal of all police operatives serving at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The directive which was contained in a signal to the Assistant Inspector General (AIG), Police Mobile Force (PMF), PMF Squadrons one to 79, Force Secretary and Commissioners of Police of all the state commands and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) also directed that the exact number withdrawn be replaced with new operatives.
According to the order, only staff of EFCC should be allowed access to the premises, while withdrawn police personnel from PMF 21, 44, 45, 46 and 50 must report to the Force Headquarters by 8am on Monday.
The development comes hours after Magu, who is being probed by a presidential panel, asked the IGP for bail.
Magu was arrested on Monday and whisked to the presidential villa in Abuja where he was grilled by the panel headed by Ayo Salami, a retired president of the appeal court.
He was later moved to area 10 force criminal investigation department (FCID) of the police in Abuja where he has been held since Monday.
Meanwhile, there have been revelations on the possible reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the immediate suspension of Ibrahim Magu on Friday.
It was gathered that the president initially didn’t want to wield the big stick concerning the ongoing probe of the former EFCC boss as he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and allowed the Ayo Salami-led panel to conclude its probe before taking action.
However, it was gathered that there was a new twist to the ongoing Magu’s probe on Friday when some unknown people allegedly broke into the new office of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
These yet to be identified people allegedly destroyed computers containing certain vital and sensitive documents that could help in the investigation.
This has created fear of a likely cover-up in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the ongoing investigation of its suspended Chairman, Magu.
This development followed the appearance of some officials of the NFIU before the Justice Ayo Salami panel, investigating Magu Thursday, to clarify certain grey areas especially, as relating to some accounts suspected to have been used to move money.
But the NFIU officials reportedly told the panel that by their operational protocols and procedure, they don’t go about with such documents. The officials however, advised members of the panel to visit their office Friday morning to sight the documents requested.
However, before the panel members got to the NFIU office on Friday morning, it was gathered that some unknown people had broken into their office; they went straight to the room, where the documents were stored in the computers and destroyed them all.
NFIU is the agency saddled with the investigation of all the allegations of financial malfeasance levelled against Magu.
Recall that NFIU was recently granted autonomy from the EFCC where the agency was initially subsumed.
However, following the development, sources, hinted that the Director-General of NFIU, Mr. Modibbo Hamman-Tukur, reportedly met with President Muhammadu Buhari immediately after the incident witnessed at NFIU.
Tukur was said to have reported the incident to the president and this allegedly prompted the decision by President Buhari to approve Magu’s suspension.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the alleged burgling of the NFIU office is already being investigated.
