NIMASA Ex-Director Sentenced 7-Years In Prison Over N1.5Billion Fraud

A former Executive Director of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Captain Ezekiel Agaba has been sentenced to a seven years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Lagos.

Justice Ibrahim Buba, who handed down the verdict on Wednesday, held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission proved the charges against the defendant beyond reasonable doubts.

Agaba was arraigned in December 2015 alongside the agency’s former Director-General Patrick Akpolobokemi for N1.5Billion fraud.

Agaba, alongside Akpobolokemi and two others were arraigned for using two firms to siphon about N2.6bn meant for the implementation of International Ship and Port Security code at NIMASA.

But the Court of Appeal has since discharged Akpobolokemi while the EFCC withdrew charges against two other defendants, leaving only Agaba.

The ISPS Code the EFCC pointed out, is to enable NIMASA to carry out security checks on vessels entering into the country.