Posted on: 07:03 Sun, 10 Jan 2016



According to reports, the former
Comptroller-General of Nigeria
Customs Service, Abdullahi Dikko may
be placed under arrest as soon as he is
sighted by the security agents as
ordered by the Federal Government.

It was gathered as well that the
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission had tracked the ex-
customs boss to Dubai in the United
Arab Emirates and it was gathered that
a high-powered delegation of top
operatives of the commission was
billed to travel outside the country for
a mission connected with the on-going
investigation.

It will be recalled that on Friday, at
about 10am, EFCC operatives in two
buses had stormed Dikko’s residence at
Jabi in Abuja and conducted a thorough
search. Sources within the anti-graft
agency said the search took several
hours and only ended at about dusk.

However, the agents did not meet
Dikko at home.

The EFCC was reported to be looking
for huge amounts of money, in dollars,
believed to be stashed in a residential
building owned by the former customs
chief. It was not clear whether the
EFCC had found anything
incriminating in Dikko’s residence.
On Saturday, the EFCC had relaxed the
siege on the residence of the former
Comptroller General of Customs.

According to reports, the EFCC had
learnt that Dikko had travelled to
Dubai and would be arrested on his
arrival back into the country as
security agents at airports had been
alerted to do so.

When Dikko was about to end his
tenure, there were allegations of
corruption against him by groups,
which said he did not manage the
Customs well.

One of the groups, the Nigerian
Customs Transparency Initiative, had
sent a petition to the Independent
Corrupt Practices and other related
offences Commission and the EFCC.

It had accused Dikko of abusing his
office, adding that some containers
disappeared from some port terminals
without trace during his tenure.

The NCTI also claimed that the
conditions, on which the Customs,
under Dikko’s supervision, spent
N3.5bn to upgrade the service’s
Internet facilities, were not
transparent and must be investigated
But supporters of the former customs
helmsman had said he introduced
major reforms during his tenure. They
added that the reforms led to increased
revenue for the Federal Government.

Dikko was appointed by former
President Goodluck Jonathan on August
26, 2009. He retired from service on
August 17, 2015.