Timipre Sylva Arrested By EFCC

The former governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) today.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the anti-graft agency said it arrived at his No. 3, Niger Street, Maitama, Abuja home at about 10am, but were informed that Sylva was not in town. They insisted on conducting a search on the apartment, since they had a court warrant and eventually found him hiding.

“During the search, vital documents were obtained. Ironically, the ex-governor who was said to be out of town was later found hiding in a dingy corner in the upper chamber of his expansive mansion,” Wilson uwujaren, the commission’s spokesperson said in the statement.

“He was immediately whisked away and is currently being interrogated at the Abuja headquarters of the anti- graft agency. He is being grilled in connection with fresh evidence linking him with a bouquet of fraudulent transactions that borders on money laundering. Part of the new evidence includes a number of eye-popping real estate acquisitions in Abuja.

“The arrest of the former governor is sequel to his refusal to honour invitations by the Commission. Rather than appear before the EFCC, he got his lawyers to inform the Commission that he was unable to appear because he was sick, and hospitalised in Lagos. The lawyer had promised to appear with his client on May 7, 2013 but failed to do so.”