Court Orders Trial-Within-Trial in Ex-NIMASA DG, Two Others’ Alleged N304.1m Fraud Trial

Justice Tijani Ringim of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, ordered a trial-within-trial in the alleged N304.1m fraud trial involving a former acting Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Haruna Baba Jauro, and two others.

Jauro alongside Dr. Dauda Bitrus Bawa and a company, Thlumbau Enterprises Limited, is being prosecuted on a 19-count charge bordering on stealing and money laundering to the tune of N304,118, 500 (Three Hundred and Four Million One Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Five Hundred Naira.

At today’s proceedings, the third prosecution witness, PW3, Orji Chukwuma, an investigator with the EFCC, in his further evidence, told the court that both the first and second defendants were invited to the EFCC office and that the first defendant had interactions with the investigating team in his office.

Chukwuma, who was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, O.A. Mohammed, said: “At the time, the team was one and was headed by Kanu Idagu. But it was later divided into three; so, I became the Head, Special Task Force 3.”

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