Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) on Thursday, July 30, 2015 arrested the immediate past Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi in Lagos State.
Akpobolokemi was subsequently detained at the commission’s office in the Ikoyi area of the state.
This is coming up exactly two weeks after he was sacked by General Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, July 16, 2015 and directed to hand over all government property in his possession with immediate effect.
A NIMASA official who revealed the development exclusively to Premium Times, said Akpobolokemi was arrested at about 10am over allegations of misappropriation of funds during his tenure as the DG of the maritime agency.
The source whose identity was not revealed said, “He was taken in this morning around 10 a.m. Some of our other officials have also been summoned while EFCC operatives have been conducting discreet investigation here. There is tension everywhere.
“One of our people just returned from EFCC and he told me the former DG is still there, sweating profusely as he was being questioned by investigators.”
Officials of the anti graft commission were said to have stormed the NIMASA head office and interrogated some officials over contracts awarded by Mr Akpobolokemi during the last days of his administration
The source added, “For instance, they wanted to know how a whopping N13 billion was spent on the acquisition of land for the permanent site of the Nigerian Maritime University in Delta. They also asked about other transactions they believed were fraudulent, including transfers of millions of dollars from NIMASA accounts to other accounts.”
Furthermore, confirming the arrest, an official in the prosecution unit of the commission whose identity was not disclosed said, “I’m aware he is with us but I don’t have details about the case against him or what investigators are asking him.”
