Former Chief of Air Staff Adesola Amosu, 3 others released by EFCC

Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (rtd), arrested over the $2.1bn arms scam, has been released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

He was released along with other senior officers connected with the arms scam including former Chief of Accounts and Budgeting of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal J.B. Adigun, and former NAF Director of Finance and Budget, Air Commodore O.O. Gbadebo.

The three senior officers, Amosu, Marshal and Gbadebo, a source at the EFCC told Punch, were released on administrative bail because EFCC was not ready to charge them to court.

The source added that “However, they have been cooperating with us and we have recovered (stolen) funds from them. So, we have asked them to go to enable them to get more money. We have released them but we seized the passports of some of them while others were released based on the credibility of their sureties. Also, the holding charge we obtained from the court to keep them in custody had elapsed. The reason why we charged Alex Badeh to court is that he has refused to cooperate with us. Even when we searched his house and found $1m, he still denied the ownership of the money. Those who are willing to cooperate can be converted to prosecution witnesses after returning funds. It is the standard practice worldwide.”