Policemen led by M. M. Gadzama, the personal assistant to Benjamin Okolo, the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Department (FID), have arraigned Aliyu Abba, a Kaduna State-based businessman, before a magistrate in Abuja.
Abba appeared at the FID office on Monday morning to honour their invitation before he was to visit the Inspector-General of Police’s office, but the policemen dragged him to Court 5 in Wuse, where the magistrate ordered his remand in Keffi Correctional Centre until Wednesday.
Sunday Aboji and Matthew Abu, two policemen who joined Gadzama in extorting N750,000 from the businessman between June 16 and June 25, were in court on Monday.
FIJ gathered that the police did not file any charges against Abba but told the court they had earlier invited him as part of an investigation and granted him administrative bail. They claimed he jumped bail.
Drama ensued in court when Silas Gabriel, a representative of Nostromo Trading Nigeria Ltd., the company that petitioned the police to probe Sajith Madhu, an Indian national they had worked with in the past, told the court that his company had no issues with Abba and was surprised they were prosecuting him.
READ MORE: Greedy FID Policemen Extort N750,000 From ‘Falsely Accused’ Kaduna Businessman, Ask for More
After the judge ordered a remand until Wednesday, Gabriel repeated to Abba that he was surprised by the police’s action.
Abba says to Gabriel, “Gadzama and his colleagues are not good people. When we (my lawyer and I) arrived at the FID, Gadzama said he was going out to eat and asked Matthew if we were going to court. He said yes. In the car on the way there, Mathew asked me why I went to press. I told him, ‘Mathew, I have to do this because you took my money and you must pay me back.’ I said, ‘Going to court isn’t going to kill me, so let’s just go since that’s what you decided. But there is no way I’m staying silent.’ He responded that he wouldn’t speak again.”
READ MORE: After FIJ’s Story, DIG Okolo’s Thieving PA Gadzama Threatens Businessman He Extorted N750,000 From
Gabriel then responds that he’s a witness, and he’s willing to tell the court that Abba has no case to answer with the police.
Soon after this encounter, the businessman was taken to the correctional facility.
HOW POLICE USED COURT MOVE TO BUY TIME
FIJ’s earlier report details how Nostromo Trading Nigeria Ltd. discovered discrepancies in their records and wrote to the police to probe Sajith Madhu, with whom they had dealings.
With money unaccounted for, Madhu told the police that he paid Abba for farm produce on behalf of the company but he never got them.
Abba then showed the police proof of their business dealings and denied owing the Indian anything.
After this encounter on June 16, the police demanded N2 million to set Abba free. In panic, the businessman paid N750,000 but the police demanded N500,000 more.
When FIJ went to press, Gadzama called Abba several times to threaten him.
Faced with evidence of his extortion and calls, Gadzama denied ever speaking with Abba.
Before his threats came, Abba submitted petitions on July 29 to the IGP and FID to probe Gadzama’s conduct and have an independent team investigate Nostromo’s case. This probe led to an invitation to the IGP’s office.
While the IGP was waiting for Abba to appear on Monday, the FID took him to court.
FIJ called the IGP’s office on Monday, but they did not respond to the phone calls.
The post DIG Okolo’s PA Begins Probe-Derailing Witchhunt, Gets Court to Jail Businessman He Stole N750,000 From appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.