A 34-year old man suspected to be working for an international criminal organization has been arrested with 108 Automated Teller Machine debit cards.
Pascal Udeh was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while he was attempting to board a Qatar Airline flight to China.
The debit cards belong to five commercial banks, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement on Saturday.
Ahmadu Garba, the NDLEA Commander at the Lagos airport, said the suspect was arrested in connection with suspected money laundering and was immediately transferred to the Assets and Financial Investigation Directorate of the Agency for investigation.
According to the agency, First City Monument Bank had the highest number of cards with 58; Stanbic IBTC Bank had 23 cards; Zenith Bank, 19; Fidelity Bank, 6; and Diamond Bank, 2.
Victoria Egbase, the Director of Assets and Financial Investigation, said the Agency had established a prima facie case of financial crime against the suspect and that the Chairman had ordered the transfer of the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation.
The NDLEA quoted the suspect as saying that he was asked to take the cards to China.
“I am not the owner of the cards,” said Mr. Udeh.
“I was told to take them to China and that somebody will collect them from me when I get there. I have a shop where I sell clothes at Onitsha main market.
“I am also a 300-level student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State studying History and International Relations. I never knew it would lead to my arrest.”.
The suspect hails from Obibi in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, the NDLEA said.
Ahmadu Giade, the NDLEA Chairman, said the case should be transferred to the EFCC.
“This is a suspected money laundering case involving cash transfer with debit cards,” said Mr. Giade.
“The EFCC will carry out further investigation on the case. We must continue to work together as a united force against criminal syndicates.”
This is quite strange am sure the guy might be innocent but was lured into complete a mission for someone else
Nawa 4 this guy sha, I think his elder brother is emefiele , all bcos he want rich
Make dem free the guy jare, pple wey dey steal billions of naira, where dem dey….mtchwwmmm
I think that the factor responsible for this act is Human right abuses and extra-judicial killings by the government. If government violate the fundamental rights of your citizens, all you are encouraging is act of lawlessness because lawlessness be-got lawlessness. You may call it any name if not lawful is lawlessness. Also the root cause of insurgency was triggered by Human right abuses and extra-judicial killings of a leader out of the confines of the law. Many of our young people that ought to live a decent and responsible life are roaming about in the street as a result massive unemployment People like these are vulnerable and represent one of the most potent threats to our collective existence, our unity, our peace and our democracy. How long will our government continues with deceive and unrealistic objective from one administration to another