« Cross-dressing governor Alamieyeseigha In Dramatic Escape From London; Recounts ordeal as EFCC vows to pursue case | Main | German FA seeks nine-month ban for referee »
November 22, 2005
Nigerian ex-police chief jailed
Nigeria's former police chief Tafa Balogun has pleaded guilty to eight charges of corruption and been sentenced to six months in prison. He becomes the first senior official to be convicted in Nigeria's drive to stamp out corruption.
Nigeria's former police chief Tafa Balogun has pleaded guilty to eight charges of corruption and been sentenced to six months in prison.
He becomes the first senior official to be convicted in Nigeria's drive to stamp out corruption.
He was arrested in January and has already spent 67 days in custody. He is due to be released early next year.
Judge Binta Nyako said her sentence reflected that Balogun was a first offender and had "shown remorse".
Balogun was inspector general of Nigeria's police for three years until his arrest.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of 4m naira ($30,000), while some $150m-worth of cash and property will be seized by government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission set up to spearhead the fight against corruption by President Olusegun Obasanjo said the conviction was a victory.
"We have recovered all the money for which he was charged... Today's court order is the final order we need," said EFCC lawyer Rotimi Jacobs.
Nigeria is routinely ranked as being seen as one of the world's most corrupt countries by watchdog Transparency International.
Posted by Publisher at November 22, 2005 06:41 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)