Nigeria Immigration Scam: Abba Moro returns to prison as Court withholds bail ruling

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed Thursday, March 3, for a ruling on the bail application filed by former interior Minister, Abba Moro.

Mr. Moro and four others are facing an 11-count charge of money laundering committed during a deadly recruitment exercise in 2014.

Justice Anwuli Chikere, who presided over the case, ordered that Mr. Morro be returned to Kuje prison pending the determination of his bail application.

At the hearing on Wednesday, Mr. Moro’s lawyer, Akinolu Kehinde, asked the court to grant his client bail, stressing that the charge against him, was bail-able.

He cited the relevant sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, to support his argument.

Counsels to other defendants also canvassed the same argument, urging the court to grant their clients bail.

The counsel to the EFCC, Aliyu Yusuf, however opposed the bail applications on the grounds that the accused persons would evade justice if granted bail.

Justice Aliyu however adjourned the case following a controversy over the name of the company contracted for the recruitment.

According to the charge sheet, the name of the company was Drexel Technical Nigeria Limited, while Drexel Global Nigeria Limited was written in the reply brief submitted to Mr. Moro’s lawyer by the prosecution.

The company had no representative at Wednesday’s hearing.

While Mr. Moro was ordered to return to Kuje prison, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Interior, was permitted to continue her administrative bail.

Mr. Moro, along with his co-accused persons, are accused of defrauding 676, 675 applicants of the sum of N676, 675, 000.

The amount was the aggregate of N1000 paid by each applicant to Drexel ahead of the recruitment.

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