FAAN probes alleged gold smuggling by staff

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria said it has commenced an official investigation into the circumstances surrounding the allegation of gold smuggling involving its staff members.

FAAN staff in the Aviation Security section, Ali Baffa, was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly attempting to smuggle gold worth N4.4bn out of the country in connivance with two other persons at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

The EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, announced the suspects’ arrest in a statement issued on Thursday, the same day the suspects were arrested.

Earlier, when contacted on Sunday, FAAN publicist Henry Agbebire said the authority was yet to be clear on the circumstances surrounding the development, adding that its position would be officially made on Monday.

Agbebire confirmed that the embattled security operative had been issued a query, while the outcome of its findings would inform its official position. “We have no position yet until tomorrow. Though he has been given a query, but the way it is, by tomorrow that is when DAS will get the clearer picture. You know they said it happened around the car park, the bureau de change car park, and, in all, he is still a suspect.

“Tomorrow, by the time they check with the EFCC, it will be clear if he will be charged, but temporarily it is just a query that has been issued. But a firmer and stronger position will be presented tomorrow.”

When asked on Monday for the management decision, Agbebire said FAAN is yet to decide on the matter, adding that a full-scale investigation has been launched into the matter. He said, “Well, what I can say now is that we are yet to decide on the matter; investigations have been allowed to go on; that is what we have on the matter as at now.”

The anti-graft agency accused Baffa of allegedly concealing 22.2 kilogrammes of unprocessed gold bars in his trousers to evade security checks and facilitate their illegal export.

According to the EFCC, Baffa and two other suspects, Aushabu Nasidi and Mukhtar Muhammad Dan Zaria, were intercepted during a surveillance operation by the Land and Property Fraud Section of the EFCC’s Kano Zonal Directorate.

The statement reads, “Preliminary investigations revealed that Ali Baffa allegedly concealed 22.2 kilogrammes of unprocessed gold bars estimated at over N4,400,000,000 in his trousers, with the intent to bypass security checks and hand over the precious minerals to overseas-bound passengers for illegal export out of Nigeria.”

Further investigations led to the arrest of Nasidi, whom the commission accused of supplying the gold bars to Baffa. The EFCC said one of Baffa’s alleged accomplices, Nasidi, was found with several foreign currencies, including 3,000 Saudi riyals, 40,000 Turkish lira, 199.75 Kuwaiti dinars, 20,700 Philippine pesos, 80 Australian dollars, 310 Chinese renminbi, 4,000 Algerian dinars, 40 Hong Kong dollars, 26,000 Hungarian forints and 1,000 Sudanese dinars.

The investigation later led to the arrest of Mr Dan Zaria, who allegedly supplied the gold bars to Nasidi. During interrogation, Dan Zaria allegedly told investigators that he had smuggled about 40.2 kilogrammes of gold between 1 and 11 June using the same method, according to the EFCC.