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N2.9BN NBC FRAUD: Court throws out motion to unfreeze defendant’s account

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Whistleblower sues Nigerian govt for failing to pay him N1.9bn commission

A Federal High Court, Abuja presided over by Justice Mojisola Giwa-Ogunbanjo, on Wednesday struck out the application of Patrick Are, who is the second defendant in the trial of former director-general of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Emeka Mba, and four others for alleged N2.9 billion fraud.

Are, through his counsel, I.F, Chude, had filed a motion on February 17, 2020, seeking to unfreeze his account.

The court sacked the motion on the grounds that it lacked merit, noting also that it was civil in nature in a matter that was gravely criminal.

The second defendant upon cross-examination told the court that on January 14, 2016, at about 12 noon, that he was invited by Abubakar Madaki, a prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to his office for the taking of his statement, adding that an EFCC operative took him to Madaki’s office.

He claimed that on getting to the office, he was under anxiety and trauma when he was writing his statement, alleging that what he wrote in the statement was what Madaki wanted him to write and sign and not out of his own volition.

In the same vein, the first defendant, Emeka Mba, told the court that he was not there when the second defendant wrote his statement, but that when he came back to the EFCC cell, he told him what transpired in the office of Madaki.

READ ALSO: EFCC arrests ex-Kano speaker for alleged N1.5bn fraud

Mba, alongside Areh, Basil Udotai, Babatunji Amure and a company, Technology Advisors are being prosecuted by the EFCC for alleged diversion of funds to the tune of N2.9billion, meant for the purchase of setup boxes for digital switch-over from analogue broadcasting in the country.

Justice Mojisola Giwa-Ogunbanjo adjourned to April 21, 2020, for adoption of written addresses and for trial-within-trial.

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