Hamza Abdullahi, a witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has narrated how N4.6 billion from the arms deal was traced to the son of Attahiru Bafarawa, a former governor of Sokoto.

Abdullahi appeared before Y. Halilu, the judge, at the federal capital territory (FCT) high court on Wednesday.

Bafarawa alongside Sagir, his son; Bashir Yuguda, former minister of state for finance; Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA); Dalhatu Investment Limited, a company owned by the former Sokoto governor; were arraigned by the EFCC.

The defendants are facing 25 counts of misappropriation, criminal breach of trust and receiving stolen property.

Their trial is connected to the alleged misappropriation of arms funds by Dasuki while he was NSA from 2012 to 2015.

On Wednesday, EFCC presented Abdullahi as the second witness in the trial-within-trial of the former Sokoto governor.

During the court proceedings, the EFCC witness said N4.633 billion was traced to the account of Dalhatu Investment Limited, where Bafarawa’s sons were directors.

The witness added that Sagir was the sole signatory to the company’s bank account.

The EFCC witness told the court that he was the second-in-command of special task force, fraud investigation on arms, defence equipment procurement in the office of NSA in 2015.

He said the team investigated the activities of 78 companies that received money from the office of the NSA without justification, adding that Dalhatu Investment Limited was among the companies.

Abdullahi said Sagir was interviewed on November 25, 2015 by the investigation team and that he made his statement voluntarily.

“My Lord, I witnessed the statement dated 25/11/2015 of Sagir Attahiru Bafarawa. He was interviewed in my presence, the statement was also recorded in my presence,” the witness said.

“At the conclusion of the written statement, I read it to him. Thereafter, I endorsed the written statement. I equally endorsed the second statement at 4pm and it was concluded by 4:25pm, the same day. I witnessed it, my name and signature were there.

“My Lord, there was nothing like promises made to the accused, threat or inducement. To the best of my knowledge, there was nothing like that.

“It was a very conducive environment and that was the secretariat of the special task force at the head office then.

“The secretariat is the conference room of the chairman, and no member of the special task force is authorized to make any promise in the course of investigation.

“When Sagir Attahiru Bafarawa honored our invitation, he came with his lawyer and he was confronted with the evidence that we have.

“Afterwards, he said he needed to consult his lawyer and later volunteered his written statement. These statements were based on the fact of the evidence we have on the company.”

After the witness’ testimony, Halilu adjourned the case to May 22, 2024.

Bafarawa served as the governor of Sokoto from 1999 to 2007.

President Bola Tinubu says he will continue to make difficult decisions on behalf of Nigerians.

Tinubu spoke during a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands on Thursday in The Hague.

Since his assumption into office in 2023, Tinubu’s administration has introduced new policies ranging from the removal of the petrol subsidy to the floating of the naira and the increase of electricity tariff.

Speaking at the meeting, Tinubu said the confidence he has in Nigerians gave him the courage to make difficult decisions on their behalf, given his full awareness of the “need to give them the long-term tools they need to succeed”.

Describing himself as a determined leader of the people, the president vowed to continue to “take the difficult decisions that will benefit our people, even if there is short-term pain”.

“We have gone through the worst of the storms,” Tinubu said.

”I am unafraid of the consequences once I know that my actions are in the best long-term interests of all Nigerians.

“The Nigerian Naira is one of the world’s best-performing currencies today. We took the necessary risk, and all resilient Nigerians kept faith with us.

“They will be rewarded, and the reward will only be greater as we partner effectively with you on new opportunities for development.

“As leaders, we must take decisions for the benefit of our nations, and we cannot shy away from that.”

Speaking on investment opportunities in the country, Tinubu told the Dutch government official that Nigeria is well positioned to power the clean energy future of the world, including Europe, with its high-grade lithium deposits.

He said the West African nation offers immense opportunities across a pool of sectors, adding that his administration is deepening reforms to enhance the investment climate.

The president said Nigeria seeks robust, balanced, and mutually beneficial partnerships that will spur value-addition in areas like solid minerals.

On April 22, Tinubu departed Abuja, the nation’s capital, for the Kingdom of The Netherlands on an official visit.

A United Kingdom-based Nigerian man, Olubunmi Abodunde, has beaten his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, Daily Mail reports.

The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and always clashed over alleged affairs and arguments about bills.

According to the news platform, 48-year-old Abodunde had been repeatedly investigated by Suffolk Police about domestic violence and was due to go on trial for murder but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after a jury had been sworn in.

During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of bangs’ inside the house, which Abodunde had gone into, despite bail conditions imposed the day before that banned him from the property following another violent episode.

When they finally entered 25 minutes later, they found the wife, 41-year-old Taiwo, with her ‘skull smashed in’.

However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, warned him the only possible sentence was life imprisonment.

Suffolk Constabulary has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed three officers were under investigation.

An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.

“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”

Abodunde had a history of jealousy and suspicion and accused his wife of having affairs. He had been investigated by police a number of times over alleged domestic violence incidents before his wife’s death.

He was arrested on April 27 last year when police arrived at the couple’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk, and found Mrs Abodunde with a split lip.

Later that day, he was freed on police bail with the condition that he stayed away from the marital home and didn’t approach his wife.

But after working a night shift at Tesco, he went home just after 9 am to allegedly pick up his mobile phone.

Two officers arrived at 9.20 am to take a statement from Mrs Abodunde about the previous night’s incident and heard repeated banging noises inside.

But it wasn’t until 9.55 am that they forced their way in after getting approval from senior officers and found Mrs Abodunde ‘obviously dead’ near the front door.

A post-mortem examination later showed she had been throttled until she fell unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were broken before her husband used the skateboard to finish her off. The blows were so violent that the skateboard was damaged.

Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court the banging officers heard was likely to have been Abodunde continuing to attack his wife after she was unconscious or dead.

Mrs Abodunde had a job as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, who had trained as a civil engineer, was unable to find work in his profession and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.

After his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode”.

He later claimed in a police statement he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.

“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife, I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”

But the court heard while he did have an injury to his hand, there wasn’t a knife near his wife’s body.

Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the level of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and might have been affected by medication he was taking. But she said no medical evidence would be provided to support this claim.

Detective Inspector Dan Connick, of Suffolk Police, said after the hearing, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a lasting impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.

‘We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.

‘Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends and hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.’

Taiwo Abodunde worked for Cambridge Manor Care Home, which provides dementia care and residential and respite care.

A spokesman for the facility, which is owned by TLC Care, said: ‘We are all deeply shaken and upset by the tragic death of Taiwo, who was a much-loved member of our home community.

‘Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with her family. Taiwo always cared for those we support with compassion and kindness, and she will be greatly missed by all of us and our residents.’

Abodunde was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on May 9.