A FCT High Court, Apo on Tuesday discharged and acquitted a former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Sunday Ehindero, and a police commissioner, John Obaniyi, of N16.4 million fraud charge.
Mr Obaniyi is a commissioner of police in charge of finance and budget at the Force headquarters, Abuja.
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The duo were arraigned on May 10, 2018, by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Justice Silvanus Oriji ruled that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendants and failed to prove that they converted the said interest generated to their personal use.
According to the judge, the investigation officer, a prosecution witness, did not discredit the claim of the defendants that the interest generated from N500 million deposited in fixed deposit accounts was used for operational purposes.
The ICPC had accused Messrs Ehindero and Obaniyi of misappropriating the sum of N557 million donated by the Bayelsa Government to the Nigerian Police Force for purchase arms and ammunition.
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The prosecution alleged that the two defendants used their positions to divert N500 million out of the N557 million into separate fixed deposit accounts belonging to them.
ICPC also alleged that the N500 million placed in fixed deposits yielded N16.4 million interest, and accused the duo of converting it to personal use.
