A staff member of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Odoh Eric Ocheme, has been declared wanted alongside two others: Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar in connection with a $6.2m fraud perpetrated in the apex bank during the time of Godwin Emefiele as the bank’s governor.
Ocheme, Abubakar and Abubakar are standing trial for money laundering, fraud, forgery and conspiracy, among others levelled against them by the federal government.
The trio are accused of forging the then President, Muhammadu Buhari’s signature to steal the said sum from CBN under the guise of being meant for International election observers in the last general poll.
The Special Investigator, Jim Obazee asked the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) to place three suspects on Red Notice.
The notice to the INTERPOL followed an order of Justice I.E. Ekwo, upon a motion ex-parte of January 18th, 2024, for the warrants of arrest of the suspects.
The Federal Government has also filed a six-count extradition charge against the three suspects.
The suspects were alleged to be on the run.
Obazee made the request in a February 12th, 2024 letter to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in the National Central Bureau of the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) in Abuja.
The letter was in respect of a “request to watch-list and placing on INTERPOL Red Notice on three defendants involved in a case of conspiracy and fraud.”
Signed by the Head of Operations, Office of the Special Investigator, DCP Eloho Okpoziakpo, the letter reads: “Reference is made to the above subject. The Special Investigator, appointed by the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Related Entities and other Key Government Business Entities (KGBEs) kindly requests you to place the above-named individuals on INTERPOL RED NOTICE.
“In the course of the Special Investigator’s assignment, Mr. Odoh Eric Ocheme, (a staff member of the CBN) now at large, and the other two accomplices, also now at large, were discovered to have conspired and forged documents in the name of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, with which they stole about US$6,230,000 (Six Million, Two Hundred and Thirty Thousand Dollars) in cash, from the coffers of the CBN.
“Consequent upon the above, a charge was filed and warrants of arrest have been issued by the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division presided over by Hon. Justice I.E. Ekwo in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/19/2024 B/w: Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Adamu Abubakar & 2 Ors for the arrest and production of the defendants named above for their arraignment.
“The data page of Odoh Eric Ocheme’s Nigerian International Passport No. B50082800, duly certified true copies of the warrants and the Order of the Court to that effect are hereby attached.
“The Special Investigator, therefore, prays you to use your good office to request that the defendants be placed on INTERPOL RED NOTICE, with a view to apprehending and repatriating them from any of the INTERPOL member states to which they may have flown.
“While counting on your timely cooperation in this regard, kindly accept the esteemed regards of the Special Investigator, please.”
Justice Inyang Ekwo had granted an ex-parte order for the issuance of the warrants for the arrest of the three defendants.
