EFCC Arrests Five For Forging NSA, AGF Official Letterheads To Defraud People

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed the arrest of a syndicate for allegedly using forged letterheads of the offices of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

Giving an update on the arrest on Monday, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said the five people involved in the act were arrested on August 24, 2023.

He said the suspects, Yakubu Mohammed, Bashir Ladan, Adamu Ibrahim, Steven Anom and Mohammed Bello, had used the forged letterhead papers to obtain money from people fraudulently.

“They allegedly conspired and used the letterheads to produce fake employment and recommendation letters for a fee, to unsuspecting members of the public,” Uwujaren said in a statement made available to newsmen today.

The EFCC further noted that the suspects will be charged in court as soon as the investigation is concluded on the matter.

EFCC Speaks On Suspended Chairman, Bawa’s Continued Detention

Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has stated that the arrest and subsequent indefinite detention of its embattled suspended Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has not stopped the anti-graft agency from carrying out its statutory duty.

Speaking during a recent interview with The PUNCH, the spokesperson for the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, said Bawa’s detention would not stop the probe of both high- and low-profile persons suspected of corrupt practices.

Naija News reports that while Bawa has now spent precisely 75 days in the dungeon of the Department of State Service following his arrest in June, the EFCC has yet to arrest or probe any high-profile suspect, including former and incumbent governors and ministers such as Bello Matawalle, Yahaya Bello, and Kayode Fayemi, all of whom were under probe of the commission before the assumption of the acting EFCC Chairman Abdulkarim Chukkol, to office.

Recall that Bawa had in May 2023 revealed that the EFCC was investigating Matawalle over an alleged N70bn contract fraud. Months before then, the commission had revealed its ongoing probe of Yahaya Bello and some of his relatives over 14 properties and N400million alleged to be proceeds of corruption, while Fayemi was said to be under investigation and was invited by the commission over an alleged misappropriation of N4billion.

Naija News reports that President Bola Tinubu had suspended Bawa over alleged abuse of office.

However, Bawa has since remained in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja since June 14.