FORMER Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State was on Wednesday arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at his Niger Street home in Maitama, Abuja.
EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said that upon the arrival of the Commission’s agents at the former governor’s house, they were told he was not around.
The EFCC men however insisted on conducting a search on the house since the EFCC had obtained a search warrant from the court.
Uwujaren stated that vital documents were recovered from the house in the course of the search while the former Governor was also discovered hiding in a corner.
“He was immediately whisked away and is currently being interrogated at the Abuja headquarters of the anti- graft agency. He is being grilled in connection with fresh evidence linking him with a bouquet of fraudulent transactions that borders on money laundering.
“Part of the new evidence includes a number of eye-popping real estate acquisitions in Abuja.”
“The arrest of the former governor is sequel to his refusal to honour invitations by the Commission. Rather than appear before the EFCC, he got his lawyers to inform the Commission that he was unable to appear because he was sick, and hospitalised in Lagos. The lawyer had promised to appear with his client on May 7, 2013 but failed to do so”, Uwujaren stated.
Sylva was still being questioned as of the time of filing this report.