No plans to charge her
THE United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA) was yesterday granted six months to hold the sum of £27,000 (N8.05m) allegedly seized from former Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison- Madueke, when she was arrested with four other people on Friday.
Asked how much the cash in question is, she replied, “27,000.” Do you mean £27,000, The Guardian asked and she answered, “Yes, £27,000.”
When asked if the former minister herself was in court for the application, the woman said: “We are on the first floor and the courtroom where the application was heard is on the fourth floor, so I can’t say whether she was there or not.”
Later, The Guardian contacted the National Crime Agency, NCA, and when asked if the former minister and those arrested with her were present in court, a press officer of the agency said: “We cannot comment on any individual cases, until the people have actually been charged.”
When asked if the NCA has any plan to sooner or later charge the individuals who were arrested on Friday, he replied: “We have not scheduled any charges.”
Earlier yesterday morning, The Guardian, alongside other world renowned media organisations, waited for about four hours in front of the Charing Cross Police Station, but the former petroleum minister didn’t show up as anticipated.
At about 9.05, The Guardian went inside the police station, to ask the two policewomen at the front desk if the former minister was being expected.
After one of them asked: “Who is she?” And the policewoman was told that Alison-Madueke is a former petroleum minister of Nigeria, she said: “We have been instructed not to say anything to anyone.”
Though the media siege attracted a lot of attention, with members of the public asking members of the press, the identity of who was being expected, there was no sighting of the former minister from 8.40 a.m. till 12.05, when The Guardian left.
GUARDIAN NIGERIA
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