Police authorities have arrested an influential northern businessman, Bashir Hadeja, over alleged treason, gun running and other trans-border crimes.
Politics Nigeria understands that, Hadeja who hails from Kaduna state, was arrested following information that he smuggled large catches of weapons along with large bars of gold believed to have been stolen from the Central Bank of Libya.
Hadeja, who has also been accused of money laundering and other transnational crimes, was over the weekend arrested for subversive activities against government.
“Bashir Hadeja, who traded dangerous weapons along with gold as cover-up, was also accused of being involved in aiding terrorism and other forms of criminality in the northern states of Nigeria along with his sponsors mostly from the northern states with few politicians of Southern extractions,” the report said.
“Responding to sustained interrogations by security, the suspect also confessed to sponsoring a large number of youths who participated in the just concluded #EndBadFovernance Protests in Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa and Abuja.
“He also confessed to sponsoring the attack on Jigawa state APC headquarters.
“The suspect was also found with increminating documents of impersonation, including tracking documents of high profile personalities and an international passport of the Republic of Vanuatu, which will expire on the 14th of September, 2030.”
During the investigation, a video showing the suspect displaying bars of gold carrying Gaddafi’s statue worth one tone believed to have been stolen from the Libyan Central Bank was also seen.
“The suspect is currently cooperating on the investigation, opening up to name his sponsors and other allies, including a former director of the Department of State Security Service, DSS,” the report added.
Reacting to Hadeja’s arrest, Johannes Tobi Wujola, a former spokesperson of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said:
“Bashir Hadeija’s apprehension may just be one of the biggest arrests of the decade. The circumstances surrounding his arrest were intriguing. Given how connected he is to past and serving government officials, only a few were acquainted with the plan to pick him up.
“And the key players that made it possible were the IGP and the HMoSD—Dr. Bello Matawalle, who employed him some years back as an assistant, but sacked him when he went rogue.
“We are going to see a lot of fighting back in the coming days—the last kicks of a dying horse—from those who were in bed with him. Expect a lot of unforced confessions and big arrests. His phone communications with a vast criminal network that he is part of is revealing, and is being used to out those in the underworld he has been working with. That network is not a small one!
“This is a truly big catch!”
