A banker, Teslim Ajuwon, on Tuesday narrated to a Federal High Court in Lagos how a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, and a Major General in the Nigerian Army, Emmanuel Atewe, allegedly connived to siphon N1.8bn from the coffers of NIMASA within two weeks in September 2014.
Atewe, now retired, was the then Commander of the military Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, in the Niger Delta.
Ajuwon appeared in court as a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is prosecuting Akpobolokemi, Atewe, Kime Engozu and Josephine Otuaga for an alleged fraud of N8.5bn perpetrated in NIMASA between September 5, 2014 and May 20, 2015.
The EFCC arraigned the accused on 11 counts before Justice Saliu Saidu in June.
It was the sixth fraud charge that the EFCC pressed against Akpobolokemi and others, following his removal as the Director-General of NIMASA by President Muhammadu Buhari last year.
In the instant charge, EFCC claimed that Akpobolokemi, Atewe, Engozu and Otuaga conspired among themselves to siphon N8.5billion out of NIMASA using six companies.
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