Exclusive: How EFCC Outwitted Former Governor Yahaya Bello, Tracking Him to Abuja Hideout Using Aide's Phone After He Left His Own in Kogi

Timbloggist/Timiyandasblog has learned that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) outwitted former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, allowing them to trace him to Abuja

It was discovered that Bello purposefully left his cell phone at the Government House in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, in order to escape being followed to Abuja. He was unaware that EFCC agents were already monitoring the phone that his assistant was using.

The former governor was located in his hiding place in Abuja thanks to the use of his assistant's cell phone.

However, a top security official said, "The aide's cellphone, which he used, was already being tracked to where he's now trapped in Abuja."

According to information obtained by SaharaReporters, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) managed to outsmart former governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello, enabling them to track him down in Abuja.

It was found that Bello deliberately left his cell phone at the Kogi State capital, Lokoja, the Government House, in order to avoid being tracked to Abuja. He had no idea that his assistant's phone was already being watched by EFCC operatives.

SaharaReporters was informed by a source that he is currently stranded in Abuja.

Earlier, as reported by SaharaReporters, Bello's home in Wuse, Abuja, was blocked on Wednesday by EFCC agents.

Days after the former governor and President Bola Tinubu met at the State House, the EFCC was under siege.

Earlier, Timbloggist/Timiyandasblog said that there was no movement in or around the residence in the capital city's Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4.

The former governor's cell phone was used to track him down from his hiding spot in Abuja.

Yahaya Bello chose to leave his phone at the Government House in Kogi in order to avoid being followed to Abuja.

Nonetheless, a senior security officer declared, "The assistant's phone, which he utilized, was already being monitored."

"EFCC barricades Bello's house in Abuja," the source stated. There was no movement as the EFCC blocked access to the residence. They have not yet obtained entry."

The anti-graft agency had filed fraud accusations against the former governor, despite the fact that no immediate explanation for their raid on his home was known.

The former governor was accused of financial wrongdoing totaling N84 billion by the EFCC.

 

In a revised complaint, the EFCC charged Bello of squandering N80 billion in public monies in September 2015, four months before to taking office.Bello became governor in January of 2016.

Before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the EFCC had charged Bello's nephew Ali Bello with money laundering charges totaling of N10 billion that the state government owns.

The state administration criticized the allegation, calling it "laughable" and "ridiculous." It said that because the former governor was not yet able to access or misuse public funds at that particular period, it was not conceivable.

The state government charged the EFCC of being "infested with persons whose intents disagree with the noble intention of 'Mr. President' to defeat corruption in Nigeria" in a statement dated February 7, 2024, and signed by Kingsley Fanwo, the Commissioner for Information and Communications.

According to Timbloggist/Timiyandasblog, Bello was sued by the EFCC for allegedly laundering N84 billion in money before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja.

EFCC, which accompanied Dauda Sulaiman, Bello's nephew Ali Bello and Abdulsalam Hudu, who is a co-accused, declared that they were being prosecuted on 17 altered counts of money laundering, breach of trust, and embezzlement of monies totaling N84, 062,406,089.88.

In the updated allegation, the anti-graft bureau asserted that former governor Bello was still on the loose.

One of the counts states: "That sometime in September 2015 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, you, Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, Yahaya Adoza Bello (still at large), and Abdulsalam Hudu (still at large) conspired among yourselves to convert the total sum of N80,246,470,089.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty-six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Eighty-nine Naira, Eighty-eight Kobo), which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of your  illegal behavior, specifically a criminal breach of trust, for which you are liable under Section 15(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and in violation of Section 18(b).

When the charges were read to the first and second defendants, Ali Bello and Suleiman, who were present in court, "pleaded not guilty" to all of them.

According to a December 2021 Timbloggist/Timiyandasblog article, Bello paid $760,910.84 in prepaid school fees for four students at American International School, Abuja, and the EFCC seized the money because to suspicions of money laundering.

According to records acquired by Timbloggist/Timiyandasblog, Governor Bello made a deal with the school through his nephew Mr. Ali Bello to pay for his four children's tuition up till graduation in advance of safeguard their future.

August 23, 221, saw the signing and execution of the agreement. After the agreement was signed, different installments totaling $845.852.84 were deposited into the school accou

 

But after roughly a year, the anti-corruption organization, in the course of its monitoring duties, sent a letter dated September 7, 2023, inviting the school administration to a series of interviews related to the funds.

According to sources who spoke with Timbloggist/Timiyandasblog, the EFCC mentioned that the advanced school fees were the proceeds of crime while questioning school authorities. It said that the school was unintentionally being used as a vehicle for money laundering and required that the money be returned to the agency via a special account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

"The EFCC also told the school administration during the interviews that the commission has the authority to seize all of the money or just a portion of it.