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Govt contractor, Uboh, arrested after lashing FG’s loot recovery efforts

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Chief Executive officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, Mr. George Uboh has been arrested by Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).

He was picked up on Tuesday for allegedly blackmailing the Federal Government into awarding him a multi-billion naira contract to recover over N1.9 trillion hidden away in some banks in the country.

Uboh had appeared on Channels Television the day before lambasting the government over its loot recovery efforts, and condemning government’s decision to withhold the names of those monies were recovered from.

He had said, “If a minister on the run comes and says ‘look I have one billion Naira I want to return’, you don’t accept it without going through the criminal procedure”.

He explained that the removal of the sources of those monies meant that another government would not be able to ascertain that those persons who funds have been traced to have returned such monies traced to them.

He also claimed to have worked with government in tracing stolen funds, and that he is in possession of documents to back his claims, that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is holding on to some of the recovered funds.

It would also be recalled that Uboh had some time ago accused the former chairman of the anti-graft body, and the agency of withholding about N1 trillion of recovered funds, a claim he took as far as the National Assembly when he was summoned.

The recent arrest was said to have been effected on Tuesday, after the DSS stormed his Abuja office in search of sensitive government documents in his possession when he was awarded a contract to recover stolen funds by the federal government.

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Reports indicate that Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami had awarded Uboh a job of recovering huge sums of stolen funds, after he convinced the AGF that he had already sighted and tracked down the money in 13 banks.

But on getting a Federal Government letter of authority he was said to have gone beyond his brief by harassing all banks in Nigeria and prominent Nigerian leaders and industry players to turn in their secret bank details to him.

This prompted the AGF to summarily terminate the contract, saying the job was given to Uboh in error following new information that Uboh had been jailed by a court in the United States and recently in Abuja for fraud-related issues.

But Uboh did not take the contract termination lightly, as it would have fetched him at least 5 per cent of the recovered amount, and he accused the AGF of standing on the way of fighting corruption.

It was gathered that the DSS would likely charge him to court for sundry criminal offences relating to the expansion of his brief to extort money from Nigerians.

While on Channels, Uboh claimed he had already traced N324 billion within the 27 days that he was allowed to work but mocked the AFG for not allowing him to go after the affected banks and individuals to recover the amount.

“I was engaged by the federal government to trace funds trapped in financial institutions and within 27 days I traced in different currencies aggregate N324 billion. So if the government is coming as a government saying they traced a little over a hundred billion in one year, you be the judge,” he said.

He would not deny his conviction as stated by the AGF but insisted that the case was in appeal as he was wrongfully convicted. He vowed that he would win the appeal and clear his name.

On his conviction in the US, he further said, “I am celebrating my conviction. You know why? Because my conviction elevated me to the status of all the idols I admire all over the world who have been arrested, detained, in some cases jailed for fighting corruption and injustice globally. It comes with the territory.”

 

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