Ex-Kogi Gov, Yahaya Bello declared wanted by EFCC; Immigration Service says arrest him at any entry or exit points

Ex-Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Adoza Bello, has been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in connection with an alleged case of money laundering to the tune of N80,246,470,089.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand and Eighty Naira, Eighty Eight Kobo).

This is as the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), has placed the embattled ex-Governor on its watch list with immediate effect, alerting security agencies to arrest him on sight at any of the country’s entry or exit points.

The wanted person notice on Bello by the EFCC, released by the agency, urged “anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts” to contact the Commission at any of its offices in Ibadan, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt and Abuja or through any of the following telephone numbers: 09-9044751-3, 08093322644, 08183322644, 07026350721-3, 0706350724-5 or the Commission’s e-mail address: info@efccnigeria.org or the nearest Police Station and any other security agencies.

The notice said that “Bello, 48-year old Ebiraman, is a native of Okene Local Government of Kogi State” and that his last known address is 9 Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.

The NIS alert on Bello, dated April 18, 2024, is contained in a memo to the Director-General, Department of State Services, A, the Inspector General, Nigeria Police Force, Abuja, the Director General, National Intelligence Agency, Abuja and others by the Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, ACI (Suspect Index), DS Umar, for the Comptroller-General of Immigration Service.

The memo, which contained the ex-governor’s passport number and nationality stated that Bello is being prosecuted before a Federal High Court in Abuja and that if he is “seen at any entry or exit point, he should be arrested…”

The manhunt for Bello is as a result of his failure to present himself for arraignment before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, April 18, 2024, where he is being prosecuted by the EFCC on charges bordering on money laundering.

The ex-Governor on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 escaped arrest by the antigraft agency when the incumbent Governor of Kogi state, Usman Ododo came to his (Bello’s) residence with his security officials, and in the chaos that ensured, during which gunshots were said to have been fired, whisked Bello out to an unknown place.

The Governor used the instrumentality of the immunity that he enjoys as an incumbent to stop EFCC’s arrest of Bello and was also able to spirit him out of his residence by ferrying him out in his (Governor’s) official car. The Commission has since issued a statement stressing the criminal nature of preventing the arrest of a suspect.