Nasarawa State has been thrust into the spotlight following reports of a purported theft of an undisclosed sum in US Dollars from the Office of the Deputy Governor, Emmanuel Agbadu Akabe. Daily Post has gathered that the deputy governor is adamant about the restitution of the allegedly stolen funds, setting a deadline for the perpetrators to return the money.
According to a confidential aide of the deputy governor, who opted to remain anonymous, the stolen amount is estimated to be around N20 million. The incident allegedly occurred just before the Christmas break and implicates two security aides and a Protocol Officer within the deputy governor’s office.
The trio, whose identities are being safeguarded, are suspected of conspiring to carry out the theft. The anonymous source revealed that the stolen funds were purportedly divided among the suspects, with the security aides allegedly receiving the majority of the ill-gotten gains. It is reported that the security aides used their share to purchase a vehicle and a motorcycle, while the protocol officer invested his N3.5 million share in acquiring a house.
The funds in question, believed to be in foreign currency, were reportedly the property of foreign investors interested in Lithium mining in Nasarawa State. The money was left in a bag within the deputy governor’s office after a meeting involving three companies embroiled in a mining rights dispute over sites in Nasarawa Local Government Area.
The source hinted at the possibility that leaving the money in the deputy governor’s office was a deliberate attempt to frame him, suggesting a potential setup to implicate him in a bribery scandal. The source stated, “I think the money was left in the deputy governor’s office to set him up and indict him in a bribery scandal in order to rubbish his image for refusing to compromise or do their bidding.”
Upon discovering the alleged theft, Deputy Governor Akabe reportedly initiated an independent investigation, which purportedly confirmed the involvement of the three individuals. The suspects have allegedly admitted to the crime, providing details on how they distributed the stolen money among themselves.
In response, the deputy governor has set a deadline for the suspects to return the stolen funds in dollars, aiming to restore them to the rightful owner, believed to be a foreign investor associated with the lithium mining project.
The matter is currently under the jurisdiction of relevant security authorities, with the two implicated security aides associated with the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
