Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force were
said to have raided the house of Dame
Patience Jonathan , the wife of former
President Goodluck Jonathan , in Abuja on
Wednesday , with the aim of uncovering huge
foreign currencies allegedly kept in the
building , The PUNCH learnt on Thursday .
Multiple sources familiar with the
investigation confided in one of our
correspondents on Thursday that the security
personnel raided the house on a tip- off that
huge amount, allegedly believed to be stolen
government money, was kept in the building
located at Igbeti Rock , Maitama , Abuja .
The operation , which was carried out by
operatives of the Special Investigation Panel ,
headed by a retired Assistant Inspector -
General of Police, Ali Amodu , acted at the
behest of the Federal Government Asset
Recovery and Forfeiture Committee .
Sources explained that an informant had
tipped the Federal Government about alleged
huge stolen cash hidden in the building and
in three other different locations in the
Federal Capital Territory .
It was learnt that the informant , who told the
government about the cash in the Maitama
property , had hinted that the suspect planned
to move the money anytime .
Following the intelligence report, the SIP
operatives stormed the duplex on
Wednesday , but did not find any cash .
A source explained that the police did not
know that the building belonged to Jonathan
until she identified herself as a former First
Lady to the team leader , Assistant
Commissioner of Police , Adebo Williams , on
the telephone.
The source stated , “ At the house , the security
men said the house belonged to one Jaga , a
Rivers State indigene , and the team leader
was directed to call the owner.
“ The security man gave the phone to the
team leader and she identified herself as
former First Lady .
“ She spoke in pidgin English and told the
operatives to go and take whatever they kept
in the house . The team leader advised her to
send her lawyer and she did . The house was
searched in the lawyer ’ s presence . ”
It was gathered that the team discovered that
the first of the twin duplex had not been
inhabited for a long time .
The men , it was learnt , found some company
documents , three Diamond bank accounts
cheque leaves , which were taken away for
further investigations .
A source said , “ The second duplex was also
filled with cobwebs and contained four big
security safes . All the four security safes were
met opened and in clean condition ,
indicating that they have been in use.
A senior officer stated that a bulletproof
Porsche jeep and a BMW car were found
locked up in the garage .
Police allegations malicious persecution of ex -
President ’ s wife counsel
In his reaction , Patience Jonathan ’ s lawyer ,
Mr . Charles Ogboli, described the allegations
by the police that they had information of
huge foreign currencies deposited in the
house as unfounded .
He argued that the raid was a malicious
persecution of the former first lady , adding
that there was no huge safe in the family
house .
He explained that the search conducted on
Mrs . Jonathan ’ s house without her presence
meant that the police intended to do
something else other than searching the
building .
Ogboli , who spoke with one of our
correspondents on the telephone, also
dismissed the claim that a huge amount of
cash was moved out of the house before the
police arrived at the building to conduct the
search .
He said, “ I wonder what they ( police ) want to
gain from all these. In their report, they said
no incriminating document or whatever was
found there . You should understand that this
is not the first time that premises were
raided . Both EFCC and NDLEA found nothing .
“ What is even the interest of the NDLEA in a
matter that concerns money ? They said they
got information that there was a huge
amount of money in the house . Are they
saying that within the period of time they
came , the money disappeared within an
interval of 30 minutes?
“ As a matter of fact , the siblings of the
former first lady are no longer staying there .
They have moved to Port Harcourt for more
than a year now . So , there is nothing they
( police ) can allege that is found and that
means they intended to do something else.
“ There is no such information that there is a
huge safe and that they saw bulletproof cars .
That you find a car in a place and saw a huge
safe are trivial issues because these are
human beings that were living good ever
before the husband became a public officer .
“ Madam (Patience ) did not give them the
authority to go ahead with that search . ”
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