A Police source told Sunday Trust that the two brothers who are now in the custody of the antifraud unit of the Police in Abuja were picked up by the Police when security operatives at the local wing of the airport were alerted by the alarm of one of them who said about $50,000 had been removed from his money. Upon a closer look, it was found they had huge amount of money packed in four big bags in cash.
They were identified as Abdul Bashir and Rabiu Bashir. They boarded an Arik Airline from Kano. Unconfirmed report said the two claimed they are members of Bureau de change and had the money given to them by their customers. They came to Lagos because the exchange rate in the city was higher than in Kano.
The Police source who declined to be named told our correspondent that the Hausa Speaking Bureau de change community at the airport visited the Police station last Thursday night, shortly after they were arrested. It couldn’t be confirmed if they came to intervene. Sunday Trust’s check however showed the bureau de change members helped in the counting of the huge cache of money.
Our source said “We slept in the office that night. Upon their arrest, the DPO contacted the Commissioner in charge of the airport command who in turn informed the Inspector General of Police. The IG then ordered that the case be transferred to the anti-fraud unit of the force CID in Abuja. The Commissioner came from Abuja yesterday (Friday) and moved them to Abuja for further investigations.”
The Murtala Muhammed Airport Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Austin Okpadile, confirmed the incident but said the case was no longer in the domain of his command. “The case has been transferred to Abuja,” he said.
