Two Chinese nationals have been arrested by officials from Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for offering a $250,000.
The Chinese offered the said bribe in local currency to a top official of the commission to compromise an ongoing investigation.
EFCC statement on the arrest said Meng Wei Kun and Xu Koi were arrested on Monday in the northern city of Sokoto while offering the bribe to its Zonal Head, Mr. Abdullahi Lawal.
The statement said “the bribe was allegedly offered in a desperate bid to compromise ongoing investigations of a construction company, China Zhonghao Nig. Ltd, handling contracts awarded by the Zamfara State Government” between 2012 to 2019.
The said contracts were worth some $127 million, according to the statement.
EFCC Arrests Two Chinese For Offering N100m Bribe To Its Top Officer
The Sokoto Zonal Office of the EFCC, has arrested two Chinese: Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Koi for offering a sum of N50,000,000 as bribe to its Zonal Head, Mr. Abdullahi Lawal.
1/ pic.twitter.com/YoXRrQgXiu— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) May 12, 2020
“The zonal office of the Commission is investigating the construction company, in connection with the execution of contracts for the construction of township roads in Gummi, Bukkuyun, Anka and Nassarawa towns of Zamfara state; and also the construction of one hundred and sixty eight (168) solar- powered boreholes in the 14 local government areas of the state,” the statement noted.
According to Nigerian officials, the Chinese nationals were “alarmed by the consistency and professionalism of investigation being conducted” so “the company reached out to Lawal with an offer of One Hundred Million Naira ($250k) as bribe to “bury” the matter.
The EFCC statement revealed that “in a grand design to trap the corrupt officials, Lawal played along. On Monday, two representatives of the company Meng Wei Kun and Xu Kuoi offered him cash totalling fifty million naira in their office along airport road, Sokoto. The cash was offered as a first installment.”
…out of which about N16,000,000,000.00 (Sixteen Billion Naira) equivalent to over $53,000,000.00(Fifty Three Million US Dollars) was allegedly diverted and traced to some bureau de change operators
The suspects would soon be charged to court.
End.
— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) May 12, 2020
Source: Africafeeds.com
