Just IN: 2 key witnesses die after giving evidence against Nyako
News & Trends •
the question is why did maj iro withdraw money from adamawa state account without being a staff of the state government1 two vital prosecution witnesses who gave evidence in the trial of former adamawa governor murtala nyako have died mysteriously1 according to the detective the two witnesses made crucial statements during the investigation into a n29billion fraud case1 odofin told the court that the two persons were very vital to the prosecution of the case1 nyako is being prosecuted by the commission alongside his son senator abdul-aziz nyako abubakar aliyu and zulkifikk abba on a 37-count charge of criminal conspiracy stealing abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of n29billion1 five companies that allegedly served as conduit pipes for the illegal diversion of the funds blue opal limited sebore farms1 testifying as the twentieth prosecution witness odofin who started his testimony on june 23 2018 and tendered documents which were admitted in evidence told the court on november 26 2018 that one mohammad maj iro who was the general manager zenith bank plc the regional manager in charge of north-east and the account officer of adamawa state 200 accounts domiciled in zenith bank died after making crucial statements at the time of filing the case in the court1 while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel rotimi jacobs san on november 27 2018 the detective told the court that the commission also extended invitation to one dalhatu abdulmalik who was the cousin to nyako1 the commission invited the director of ameak investment limited kirkelly investment limited and pilkola engineering limited who also died after giving his statement1 odofin said mohammad maj iro pulled out over n800million from the adamawa state account and credited it to crust energy limited the 9th defendant in the case taking orders from nyako1 odofin explained that the pattern of two accounts belonging to the state special service department ssd and secretary to the state government ssg drew the attention of the efcc1 according to him the behaviour of these accounts showed how money was being withdrawn in multiples of ten million naira on different dates running into billions of naira by late mohammad maj iro1 adekunle odofin a detective with the economic and financial crimes commission efcc made the startling revelation before justice okon abang of the federal high court in abuja today1 investigations revealed that memos were originated from permanent secretaries of the ssd mohammed ibrahim jidado and that of the ssg emmanuel ibrahim1 having generated these memos same were forwarded to ssg for transmission to the number one citizen of the state the governor. upon the approval of these memos same came back to the ssg1 he explained that vouchers were raised after the approval of the memos in the name of the permanent secretary the accountant and cashier as the same and now taken to maj iro1 having received these cheques maj iro being a seasoned banker pulled out these monies from the two accounts ssd and ssg and he starts crediting various individuals and corporate accounts most especially without the knowledge of the account owners the witness added1 maj iro credited zenith bank accounts of the 5th to the 9th defendants blue opal limited sebore farms1 maj iro also transferred n160 000000 out of the money he pulled out from adamawa state account to a company called maxion option limited. maxion option limited transferred same to crust energy limited zenith bank account1 the witness further told the court how maj iro disbursed millions of naira to the companies used to launder state funds1 maj iro also transferred sums of money on different dates to sabore farms limited. out of the money transferred to the company by maj iro the sum of n20million was transferred to mainstream energy limited. another n20million was transferred from same sabore farms to one sanni hello of mainstream energy limited. another n10million was transferred to crust energy limited odofin said1 statements made by maj iro at the commission were tendered and admitted in evidence by the court1 according to the court statements made by maj iro on june 21 2014 june 24 2014 july 2 2014 july 10 2014 july 15 2014 july 22 2014 july 23 2014 august 29 2014 and october 22 2014 admitted in evidence as ll40-1 to ll40-9 respectively. also statements made by dalhatu abdulmalik were tendered and admitted in evidence1 the matter was thereafter adjourned to november 29 2018 for continuation of trial1