The search and arrest of the erstwhile director general of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Ita Ekpenyong by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yielded any fruitful results as neither cash nor any incriminating document was found in his house.
It would be recalled that the EFCC operatives had on Thursday picked up Ekpenyong at his residence on 46, Mamman Nasir Street in Asokoro and combed his house for more two hours without finding anything incriminating thing.
Nevertheless, the DSS personnel still took him to their office in Abuja.
“The search was not as fruitful as we had expected it to be because the man had 10 months to dispose of all evidences. We are, however, questioning him and we will get more information,” said a source.
The spokesman for EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that the operatives had gone to Ekpenyong’s house to ‘complete the assignment’ they were prevented from carrying out in November last year.
“He has been cooperating with our operatives and we will do our work the way we should do it. We just want him to shed more light on some funds and other issues,” he said.
The former spy chief has since been released.
Meanwhile, Ekpenyong and the sack DSS director general of DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura as well as the former director general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr. Ayo Oke are to be investigated in connection with the management of billions of naira said to have been transferred from the Central Bank of Nigeria to the DSS and the NIA in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.
While $289,202,382 (N57.8bn at the time) was given to the NIA, about N20 billion was handed to the DSS.
The EFCC, it was gathered, would want to know how the money given to the DSS was spent and how much Ekpenyong left for Daura who succeeded him.
The EFCC, it was further learnt believes that Daura allegedly diverted the funds left behind by Ekpenyong.
It was also gathered that the order to probe the three men came in the wake of meetings between the acting president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and the acting director general of DSS, Mr. Matthew Seiyefa, and the acting chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.