‘Maina feigning sickness to escape from custody,’ Aregbesola tells court

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on Wednesday, told Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that convicted former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, was feigning sickness in order to escape from custody.

The Controller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa, also told the court that Maina was not as sick as he had claimed.

Aregbesola and Nababa were responding to the ex-PRTT chief’s request for permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

READ ALSO: Convicted pension thief, Maina, applies for bail to treat ‘life-threatening disease’

Maina, who is currently serving an eight-year jail term at Kuje Prison for pension fraud had on October 17, filed a motion ex-parte and urged the court to grant him bail in order to treat a life-threatening disease abroad.

Aregbesola and the NCoS chief were listed as respondents in the motion.

But in their joint affidavit, the duo said the intelligence report at their disposal revealed that Maina was feigning the ailments in order to escape from custody.

They also denied claims that the convict was denied access to medical services in prison.

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