According to reports, the former Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Abdullahi Dikko may be placed under arrest as soon as he is sighted by the security agents as ordered by the Federal Government.
It was gathered as well that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had tracked the ex-customs boss to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and it was gathered that a high-powered delegation of top operatives of the commission was billed to travel outside the country for a mission connected with the on-going investigation.
It will be recalled that on Friday, at about 10am, EFCC operatives in two buses had stormed Dikko’s residence at Jabi in Abuja and conducted a thorough search. Sources within the anti-graft agency said the search took several hours and only ended at about dusk. However, the agents did not meet Dikko at home.
The EFCC was reported to be looking for huge amounts of money, in dollars, believed to be stashed in a residential building owned by the former customs chief. It was not clear whether the EFCC had found anything incriminating in Dikko’s residence.
On Saturday, the EFCC had relaxed the siege on the residence of the former Comptroller General of Customs. According to reports, the EFCC had learnt that Dikko had travelled to Dubai and would be arrested on his arrival back into the country as security agents at airports had been alerted to do so.
When Dikko was about to end his tenure, there were allegations of corruption against him by groups, which said he did not manage the Customs well.
One of the groups, the Nigerian Customs Transparency Initiative, had sent a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission and the EFCC.
It had accused Dikko of abusing his office, adding that some containers disappeared from some port terminals without trace during his tenure.
The NCTI also claimed that the conditions, on which the Customs, under Dikko’s supervision, spent N3.5bn to upgrade the service’s Internet facilities, were not transparent and must be investigated
But supporters of the former customs helmsman had said he introduced major reforms during his tenure. They added that the reforms led to increased revenue for the Federal Government.
Dikko was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan on August 26, 2009. He retired from service on August 17, 2015.