Alleged N80.2bn Fraud: Ex-Kogi Gov Bello Is A Flight Risk, EFCC Tells Court

Former Governor Yahaya Bello is a flight risk, who may disappear if granted permission to travel out of Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has told Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

The commission, through its Counsel, Mr Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, in his submission against the application by Counsel to Bello, Chief Joseph Daudu, SAN, to allow Bello travel abroad for medical vacation, told the court not to grant the application.

According to him, if the application is granted, he may be arrested in the country he is travelling to and that will frustrate the ongoing trial before the court.

Also, during the proceedings, the EFCC Counsel said the witness in the matter, Mshelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, was being harassed and intimidated based on his evidence before the court.

He called for the protection of the witness by the court.

But, the witness, in his response, said he only had little altercation with the former governor’s security aide.

While being cross examined on some documents, the witness said Yahaya Bello did not benefit from the transactions contained in the document before him.

But Pinheiro, SAN objected to the line of evidence of the witness saying, “it is a money laundering charge, who benefits or not is what the court will decide. The witness is not in a position to determine who benefitted from any transaction. The witness is not an expert of law.”