The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has re-arraigned a former Assistant Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs Service, Bridget Okafor, and her company, Bridkass Investment Integrated Limited, for alleged contract fraud worth N1.9 billion.
Okafor faces 13 amended counts of abuse of office, misappropriation, and contract scam before Justice Venchak S. Gaba of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Kuje, Abuja. She pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecution witness, Agid Mohammed, an EFCC detective, testified that the Commission received intelligence in January 2016 about valuable items suspected to be proceeds of crime kept at the residence of a former Comptroller General of Customs, late Abdullahi Dikko Inde. A search was conducted, and incriminating items were recovered.
Mohammed also disclosed that Okafor was the signatory to various bank accounts and had influence over the award of contracts in the Nigerian Customs Service because she was still in active service when the contracts were awarded.
Justice Gaba adjourned the matter until June 26, 2024, for cross-examination and continuation of the trial. Okafor was first arraigned on May 19, 2019, before the same judge in FCT High Court, Kwali, before the case was transferred to Kuje FCT High Court.
The EFCC alleged that Okafor, while serving as Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, knowingly acquired private interest in contracts awarded to her son’s company, Nikobi International, and received payment of N329,021,640.00 from the Nigerian Customs Service. The offence is contrary to Section 12 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
