Maina’s Fleeing Son, Faisal Arrested

Maina’s Fleeing Son, Faisal Arrested

Faisal Maina, the son of the former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, has been arrested.

He was rearrested by security operatives on Wednesday night after he was declared wanted by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed Faisal’s arrest to the court on Thursday, almost six months after the 21-year-old jumped bail on June 24.

Faisal who is being prosecuted in a separate three-count money laundering case at the Federal Court in Abuja had jumped bail and stopped attending trial which had though continued in his absence.

Justice Okon Abang of November 24, 2020, revoked the bail granted him and ordered his arrest.

The judge also ordered the fleeing defendant’s surety, who is a member of the House of Representatives representing Kaura-Namoda Federal Constituency, Umar Dan-Galadima, to appear in court.

But at the resumed hearing in the case on Thursday, surety’s lawyer, Mr. M. E. Sheriff, urged the court to suspend the hearing of the forfeiture proceedings on the grounds that he got information that Faisal had been arrested.

“My lord, I was reliably informed that the Defendant had been arrested. He was arrested last night and he is in custody,” the lawyer said.

The prosecution counsel, Mr. Faruk Abdullah, confirmed the development but said the defendant had not been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

This came barely one week after Maina who had jumped bail in his ongoing N2bn money laundering trial at the Federal Court in Abuja was arrested in the Republic of Niger and brought back to the court.