An employee of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN and three other suspects alleged to be involved in the plot to smuggle out gold worth over N4 billion from the country are curently being investigated.
One Ali Baffa, a FAAN staff was caught by the EFCC recently, alongside some alleged accomplices at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano while trying to smuggle the items out of the country.
Baffa, was apprehened by EFCC operatives at the airport after allegedly concealing 22.2 kilogrammes of unprocessed gold bars estimated at over N4,400,000,000 in his trousers, with the aim of bypassing security checks and hand over the precious minerals to overseas-bound passengers for illegal export out of the country.
The suspect and his accomplices, according to the anti-graft agency are currently being held in its custody for investigations.
Speaking to The Punch, FAAN publicist Henry Agbebire said the suspects have been arrested, and are being interogated, noting however that they remain innocent until the outcome of the ongoing investigations. .
The newspaper quoted Agbebire as saying that full-scale investigation has commenced on the issue to ascertain Baffa’s alleged complicity.
Agbebire: “Well, what I can say now is that we are yet to decide on the matter; investigations have been allowed to go on; that is what we have on the matter as at now.”
The EFCC had accused Baffa of allegedly concealing 22.2 kilogrammes of unprocessed gold bars in his trousers to evade security checks and facilitate their illegal export.
According to the EFCC, Baffa and two other suspects, Aushabu Nasidi and Mukhtar Muhammad Dan Zaria, were intercepted during a surveillance operation by the Land and Property Fraud Section of the EFCC’s Kano Zonal Directorate.
The statement reads, “Preliminary investigations revealed that Ali Baffa allegedly concealed 22.2 kilogrammes of unprocessed gold bars estimated at over N4,400,000,000 in his trousers, with the intent to bypass security checks and hand over the precious minerals to overseas-bound passengers for illegal export out of Nigeria.”
Further investigations led to the arrest of Nasidi, whom the commission accused of supplying the gold bars to Baffa. The EFCC said one of Baffa’s alleged accomplices, Nasidi, was found with several foreign currencies, including 3,000 Saudi riyals, 40,000 Turkish lira, 199.75 Kuwaiti dinars, 20,700 Philippine pesos, 80 Australian dollars, 310 Chinese renminbi, 4,000 Algerian dinars, 40 Hong Kong dollars, 26,000 Hungarian forints and 1,000 Sudanese dinars.
The investigation later led to the arrest of Mr Dan Zaria, who allegedly supplied the gold bars to Nasidi. During interrogation, Dan Zaria allegedly told investigators that he had smuggled about 40.2 kilogrammes of gold between 1 and 11 June using the same method, according to the EFCC, the EFCC said.
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