The absence of Justice Emike of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on Friday October 19, 2012, stalled the arraignment of Abubakar Sheriff Tijjani, who was intercepted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with $7,049.444 (Seven million, Forty Nine Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty Four United States Dollars) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on Thursday, 27 September, 2012.
Operatives of the Commission were already in court with the suspect who was arrested on his way to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when information reached the Commission that the judge was not going to sit because he was bereaved. Tijjani will now be arraigned on Tuesday next week.
When the 25 year-old suspect was arrested, he declared that he had a total sum of $4.5million on him but thorough screening and search showed that he was actually carrying $7,049,444. He confessed that he was a courier for twenty individuals who hired him to convey the money to Dubai.
Sheriff will be docked under Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap.F34 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Section 2(5) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011.
