Niger Republic has detained a Nigerian carrying 4.6m euros (N1.05bn) in cash at the Diori Hamani Airport in Niamey on his way to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The suspect has said that he was running away with the money in order to avoid being caught by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been prosecuting an anti-corruption campaign since his swearing-in on May 29.
The Niger police also expressed concern that there had been an increase in the number of Nigerians handling huge sums of money in cash through the neighbouring country.
They have the suspicion that the money traffickers have assistants in the country.
A media report in Niger on August 29 said the National Union of Customs Officers at a press briefing “denounced the request of the Nigerian authorities” to recover the seized money.
According to the customs official there had been several similar seizures in the Niger capital from people transferring money from Nigeria, estimating the amount seized as several billions of naira.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials denied knowledge of the confiscation in Niger Republic. Ogbole Ahmedu-Ode, the ministry’s spokesman, said the ministry had not received official communication on the arrest of any Nigerian.
He said: “I am hearing about this
incident for the first time from you, we have not received any
communication on the matter from any quarters.”
The Nigerien embassy in Abuja could not be reached for comment on
Wednesday as calls to the mission’s phone lines failed to connect.A senior official the Nigerian Customs Service told reporters in confidence that the issue had yet to be brought to the attention of the agency.
The official said: “As we speak now,
the matter hasn’t been drawn to our attention. This is a diplomatic
matter that has to be treated with caution in order to avoid diplomatic
row between both countries.
“The identity of the person in question has not been established and it is the Nigerian embassy in Niger that would verify that.
“After that is done, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs will be notified before other security agencies would be
invited on the matter.
“So, it is not something that the
Customs will jump into and start investigating because the Customs in
Niger don’t report directly to us in Nigeria.”
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