Nigerian arrested with N1bn cash in Niger

Nigerien customs reject Nigeria's request for seized
cash
Source: Punch.
The police in neighbouring Niger Republic have
arrested a Nigerian carrying 4.6m Euros (N1.05bn) in
cash. The man was arrested at the Diori Hamani
Airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, en route
Dubai in the United Arab Emirate.
The Nigerien police said they suspected that the man
was fleeing with the money in order to avoid being
caught by the administration of President
Muhammadu Buhari, who has been prosecuting an
anti-corruption campaign since assumption of office
on May 29.
They also expressed worry that there had been an
upsurge in the number of Nigerians trafficking huge
sums of money in cash through the neighbouring
country.
The police in Niger are already working on the
suspicion that the money traffickers have
accomplices in the country.
The arrest of the Nigerian has been a big news item
in the Nigerien newspapers and television stations.
Curiously the authorities here on Wednesday claimed
ignorance of the money seizure in the neighbouring
country though the Customs officers in Niger were
already kicking against repatriating the cash to
Nigeria.
A media report in Niger on Saturday said the
National Union of Customs Officers at a press
briefing "denounced the request of the Nigerian
authorities" to return the seized money.
The Customs official said there had been several
similar seizures in Niamey from people trafficking
money from Nigeria, putting the amount that had
been so seized in several billions of naira.
They said the seized money had been mainly in
dollars, euros and pounds sterling, asking the Niger
authorities to allow the Customs officials to do their
job without interference.
When contacted, the Senior Special Adviser to the
President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina,
said he could not speak on the development because
his brief was to speak for the President.
He therefore referred one of our correspondents to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"I speak for the President. On this kind of issues, I
will advice that you speak with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs," he said.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the officials denied
knowledge of the seizure in Niger Republic. The
ministry's spokesperson, Ogbole Ahmedu-Ode, said
the ministry had not received official communication
on the arrest of any Nigerian.
"I am hearing about this incident for the first time
from you, we have not received any communication
on the matter from any quarters," he said over the
telephone.
Calls to the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria
Immigration Service, Emeka Obua, did not elicit any
response.
He also did not respond to text messages to his
mobile telephone on the issue.
The Nigerien embassy in Abuja could not be reached
for comment on Wednesday as calls to the mission's
phone lines failed to connect.
The spokesman for the Nigerian Customs Service, Mr
Wale Adeniyi could not be reached for comments as
text message and repeated calls made to his mobile
line were not replied as of the time (8.30pm) of filling
this report.
But a senior official of the Service told one of our
correspondents in confidence that the issue had yet
to be brought to the attention of the agency.
The official said since the matter was a diplomatic
issue, there were protocols that must be adhered to
before the customs could step in.
The official said, "As we speak now, the matter hasn't
been drawn to our attention. This is a diplomatic
matter that has to be treated with caution in order to
avoid diplomatic row between both countries.
"The identity of the person in question has not been
established and it is the Nigerian embassy in Niger
that would verify that.
"After that is done, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will
be notified before other security agencies would be
invited on the matter.
"So, it is not something that the Customs will jump
into and start investigating because the Customs in
Niger don't report directly to us in Nigeria."
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