EFCC Arraign Tompolo In Absentia

                           

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday arraigned a former Niger-Delta militant commander, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, in absentia on a 22-count charge which borders on conspiracy, advanced fee fraud and money laundering.


Also arraigned in absentia in relation to the alleged N47.6bn fraud were six brothers of a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, namely: Igo, Julius, Victor, Norbert, Emmanuel and Clement.

When the charges were read before a Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday, Tompolo, Igo, Julius, Victor, Norbert, Emmanuel and Clement were declared as being “now at large.”
However, Akpobolokemi himself, two females – Josephine Otuaga and Rita Uruakpa – and one Kime Engozu, who were also listed as defendants in the amended charge, were present in court on Monday to answer to the charges.

The other defendants in the charge were five companies, namely: Mieka Dive Training Institute Ltd/GTE; Oyeinteke Global Network Limited; Wabod Global Resources Ltd.; Boloboere Properties Estate Ltd.; Gokaid Marine Oil and Gas Ltd.; and Watershed Associated Resources.
The EFCC, in one of the counts, alleged that the defendants conspired among themselves to defraud the Federal Government between December 2, 2014 and April 10, 2015, by inducing the Federal Government to deliver an aggregate sum of N11.9bn to them.

The anti-graft agency claimed that the accused persons induced the Federal Government by “falsely pretending to the Federal Government that a parcel of land and its appurtenances situated at Mieka Dive Training Institute, Kurutie, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State had been acquired by NIMASA for the temporary campus of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko.”