EFCC arrests 4 Arik, SAHCOL officials over missing exhibits

By Emma Ovuakporie

ABUJA—Four officials of Arik airline and Sky Aviation Handling Company Ltd, SAHCOL, were weekend, arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over the disappearance of a bag containing sensitive documents recovered from the home of a high profile suspect in Lagos.

It was gathered that the operatives had recovered the incriminating documents during their search of the home of a suspect who is being investigated for money laundering offences and thereafter headed to the airport with the documents stashed in a big ‘Ghana Must Go’. They boarded an Abuja bound Arik aircraft after checking in the bag containing the exhibits.

When the operatives numbering about four arrived in Abuja about 2pm on Friday, the bag could not be found. Sources hinted that the operatives were assured by the airline managers in Abuja that the bag will arrive with any of the subsequent flights from Lagos but that never came to be after the operatives waited at the airport for over 12 hours.

Sensing criminal conspiracy, the operatives were said to have briefed the Commission’s Director of Operations, Steven Otitoju who after briefing his own boss, Mrs Farida Waziri, ordered that Arik and SAHCOL officials that handled the bag should be arrested for investigation.

By Saturday afternoon, no fewer than four officials of the two organisations involved have been arrested and detained at the EFCC facility in Abuja. Arik staff arrested include Catherine Ehichioya and Adebisi Oginni while Henry Onwudili and Offiong Okon work with SAHCOL.

When contacted yesterday to confirm the arrest, EFCC Head of Media, Femi Babafemi confirmed the development but said  “I just got an information now that the bag has been recovered from someone whose cloths were also found in the bag. All that is being investigated at the moment.”