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JUST IN: EFCC Grills Betta Edu Over ‘N585m Disbursement Fraud’

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Anti-graft investigators on Tuesday have started grilling suspended minister Betta Edu over alleged N585m disbursement fraud.

A source in Abuja said Edu arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Jabi, Abuja, at 11am.

The embattled minister came alongside her aides and lawyer and is currently facing EFCC investigators.

Edu’s appearance at the EFCC office came barely a day after she was suspended by President Bola Tinubu.

Edu was caught in a N585m disbursement scandal involving the humanitarian affairs ministry, attracting widespread criticisms from rights groups and activists.

The predicament of the 37-year-old was worsened when the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, confirmed that although her office received a request from the humanitarian ministry to make certain payments, her office did not act on it.

On Monday, the President wielded his big stick and suspended the 37-year-old with immediate effect, making his party’s ex-national women leader the first to be removed from his 48-man cabinet inaugurated last August.

The President also ordered EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, “to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions” involving the ministry and “one or more agencies thereunder”.

Edu, 37, the youngest in the President’s cabinet before her suspension, was a fast-rising Amazon in the political space having occupied state and national offices at a young age.

Before her ministerial appointment last August, she was Cross River State Commissioner for Health and the National Women Leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). Edu was a prominent figure in the campaign train of Tinubu, the then APC presidential candidate, during the electioneering process that brought the ex-Lagos governor into office as President.

Edu clinched her ministerial appointment about three months after Tinubu was sworn in as President. Her tenure as minister was, however, short-lived barely six months after, perhaps the shortest tenure by a minister in a long while.

Meanwhile, the EFCC quizzed Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, on Monday, over an alleged laundering of N37.1 billion during her tenure as a minister. She was allowed to go home after a 12-hour marathon interrogation and is expected to return on Tuesday for further clarifications on sundry issues that the Commission flagged in the course of its preliminary investigations.

Crime

JUST IN: Tompolo has questions to answer – EFCC breaks silence on viral video

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said Chief Government Ekpemupolo, widely known as Tompolo, has questions to answer concerning a viral video clip which showed him allegedly engaging in naira abuse.

Nigerians on Sunday dared the Commission to arrest Tompolo like it did to other offenders.

The outrage was ignited by a viral video posted on X by one Harrison A, who tweets as #harreceipts with the caption, ‘EFCC, see Tompolo and the Naira o’.

The video clip captured parts of Tompolo’s 54th birthday celebration in April.It showed the Niger Delta chieftain dancing while a man lavishly sprayed N1,000 notes before him.

Responding to the demands by netizens, EFCC in a post on its official X handle on Monday said: “Nobody is above the law. Tompolo will have questions to answer!”

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Nigeria Police Nabs Two Countrymen Allegedly Behind Transnational Sex and Robbery Crimes

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The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commends all operatives involved in these high-profile arrests for their professionalism, diligence, and dedication to upholding Nigeria’s international law enforcement obligations.

The Nigeria Police Force has recorded a significant breakthrough in its fight against transnational organized crime with the arrest of two internationally wanted fugitives: Felix Omoregie alias “Eghosa Johnson Omoregie,” a suspected ringleader of a human trafficking syndicate wanted by Belgian authorities, and Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje, a key member of a Dubai-based armed robbery gang

In a statement dated May 7, 2025, with the reference number Ref No. CZ.5300/FPRD/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.6/433, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force PRO, Force HQ Abuja, said: “Felix Omoregie, the alleged mastermind of a large-scale human trafficking operation, had been declared wanted by the Belgian authorities through an INTERPOL Red Notice issued on 19th December 2023, and was arrested in Benin City, Edo State, following diligent intelligence and enforcement efforts by Police operatives.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Benin City.

Omoregie is accused of trafficking young Nigerian women, including minors, to Italy and subsequently dispersing them across Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Victims were subjected to voodoo-based oaths and psychological coercion, with fabricated debts ranging between €20,000 and €50,000 used to manipulate and control them.

His criminal network involved handlers in Brussels and France who managed the victims’ activities and remitted proceeds to him.

Following a conviction in absentia in Belgium in 2021 for multiple counts of aggravated human trafficking and criminal organization leadership, Omoregie fled to Nigeria.

Upon his arrest, a search of his premises revealed incriminating materials, including a photocopy of a passport intended for a planned relocation to Canada.

In a separate operation, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja, apprehended 37-year-old Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje at a hideout in Nsukka, Enugu State.

Ezeje is wanted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a series of serious crimes, including armed robbery, cultism, drug trafficking, and other organized criminal activities.

Intelligence gathered reveals that Ezeje continued to coordinate criminal operations remotely from Nigeria.

He has been directly linked to several high-profile robberies in Dubai and Sharjah, including an armed robbery at a grocery store in Dubai Mall, a targeted hit on Al Ansari Exchange in Jumeirah, and another heist at a Bureau de Change in Jebel Ali Village.

The arrest was the result of strategic intelligence sharing and operational collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and the Dubai Police.

The arraignment of Okwudili Ezeje is expected to take place shortly.

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commends all operatives involved in these high-profile arrests for their professionalism, diligence, and dedication to upholding Nigeria’s international law enforcement obligations.

The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to enhancing its global policing partnerships and ensuring that fugitives find no safe haven within our borders.

These arrests serve as a clear message that criminal elements, no matter how far they run or how long they hide, will be brought to justice.

The Force calls on citizens to remain vigilant and cooperative in the fight against organized crime, both at home and abroad.”

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Crime

Nigeria Police Arrests two High-Profile Fugitives Wanted for Human Trafficking, Armed Robbery

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…..Reiterates Commitment towards International Partnership

The Nigeria Police Force has recorded a significant breakthrough in its fight against transnational organized crime with the arrest of two internationally wanted fugitives:

Felix Omoregie alias “Eghosa Johnson Omoregie,” a suspected ringleader of a human trafficking syndicate wanted by Belgian authorities, and Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje, a key member of a Dubai-based armed robbery gang.

Felix Omoregie, the alleged mastermind of a large-scale human trafficking operation, had been declared wanted by the Belgian authorities through an INTERPOL Red Notice issued on 19th December 2023, and was arrested in Benin City, Edo State, following diligent intelligence and enforcement efforts by Police operatives.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Benin City. Omoregie is accused of trafficking young Nigerian women—including minors—to Italy and subsequently dispersing them across Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Victims were subjected to voodoo-based oaths and psychological coercion, with fabricated debts ranging between €20,000 and €50,000 used to manipulate and control them.

His criminal network involved handlers in Brussels and France who managed the victims’ activities and remitted proceeds to him.

Following a conviction in absentia in Belgium in 2021 for multiple counts of aggravated human trafficking and criminal organization leadership, Omoregie fled to Nigeria.

Upon his arrest, a search of his premises revealed incriminating materials, including a photocopy of a passport intended for a planned relocation to Canada.

In a separate operation, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja, apprehended 37-year-old Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje at a hideout in Nsukka, Enugu State.

Ezeje is wanted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a series of serious crimes including armed robbery, cultism, drug trafficking, and other organized criminal activities.

Intelligence gathered reveals that Ezeje continued to coordinate criminal operations remotely from Nigeria.

He has been directly linked to several high-profile robberies in Dubai and Sharjah, including an armed robbery at a grocery store in Dubai Mall, a targeted hit on Al Ansari Exchange in Jumeirah, and another heist at a Bureau de Change in Jebel Ali Village.

The arrest was the result of strategic intelligence sharing and operational collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and the Dubai Police.

The arraignment of Okwudili Ezeje is expected to take place shortly.

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM., commends all operatives involved in these high-profile arrests for their professionalism, diligence, and dedication to upholding Nigeria’s international law enforcement obligations.

The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to enhancing its global policing partnerships and ensuring that fugitives find no safe haven within our borders.

These arrests serve as a clear message that criminal elements, no matter how far they run or how long they hide, will be brought to justice.

The Force calls on citizens to remain vigilant and cooperative in the fight against organized crime, both at home and abroad.

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