20110606
Xinhua
ABUJA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's outgoing Speaker of the House of Representaives Dimeji Bankole has been arrested, according to the West African country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).



The EFCC disclosed this in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity Femi Babafemi in Abuja on Sunday.

Bankole was arrested because he was planning to escape, he said.

According to him, the commission's operatives had to arrest Bankole ahead of the June 6 deadline for him to surrender himself because he was purportedly plotting to thwart efforts to question or apprehend him.

The EFCC spokesperson said Bankole was arrested on Sunday at his residence in Asokoro, Abuja, around 8 p.m. after resisting attempts to apprehend him for more than four hours.

"Farida Waziri (the EFCC Chairman) was compelled to order the immediate arrest of Mr. Bankole after analyzing an intelligence report which showed that the former Speaker was planning to leave Abuja for Lagos on Sunday evening and thereafter flee the country through an illegal route," he added. Babafemi recalled that Bankole had twice shunned two invitations extended to him by the EFCC in the last two weeks.

He said Bankole's defiance climaxed last Friday into a situation where he resisted attempts by EFCC operatives to arrest him in his residence.

He added that the operatives had to be withdrawn after more than five hours' stand-off, following a commitment from Bankole that he was going to surrender himself on Monday, June 6.

"While our men kept surveillance around the former Speaker, hoping that he will honor his promise to report on Monday, a fresh intelligence gathered by the Commission showed that Bankole was not ready to keep his promise," he said.

"He was rather planning other schemes to escape from the country through an illegal route or obtain a restraining court order early on Monday to prevent the Commission from effecting his arrest or prosecution," he added.

Babafemi said the former Speaker would remain in EFCC custody for questioning over fraud allegations levelled against him.