A Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, was on Monday, presented with testimony alleging how Ahmed Kuru, the former Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), orchestrated the diversion of N4.9 billion from the assets of the defunct Arik Airline Limited to finance the establishment of NG Eagle Airlines.
The revelation was made by Bawa Usman Kaltungo, an Investigative Officer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), while giving his evidence-in-chief, led by the lead prosecution counsel, Dr Wahab Shittu, SAN.
Kuru is facing trial alongside his co-defendants, including Kamilu Alaba Omokide, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, and Super Bravo Limited, before Justice Mojisola Dada.
According to Kaltungo’s testimony, evidence gathered during the investigation, specifically the statement of Arik’s former Chief Financial Officer, Mr Jonathan Sani, exposed how the defendants allegedly took a sum of N4.5 billion from Arik Airline to fund NG Eagle, an airline the witness claimed belonged to the defendants.
The witness further alleged that co-defendants Omokide and Ilegbodu conspired with Kuru to move the total sum of N4.9 billion from Arik’s accounts to establish NG Eagle.
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Kaltungo insisted that the alleged diversion was not limited to cash assets, adding that the defendants also transferred Arik staff members to the newly formed NG Eagle Airlines.
The witness stated that NG Eagle was established while Mr Kuru was serving as the MD of AMCON and Mr Omokide was acting as the Receiver Manager for the Corporation.
He added that the funding structure was such that the payment of workers’ salaries and other operational expenses for the newly formed NG Eagle was shouldered by the financially distressed Arik Air Limited.
“The statement of the Chief Financial Officer of the Arik Air Limited, Mr Jonathan Sani, showed how Arik money was used to fund and establish NG Eagle. It is the investigation report, my lord; our findings were based on documentary evidence recovered during the investigation,” Kaltungo affirmed.
During the proceedings, the court admitted a certified ex-parte order as Exhibit P17. Other key exhibits tendered and admitted included P18, P25, P26, P44, and P45.
The court played photographs and a flash drive containing a video of a vandalised aircraft, tendered as part of the EFCC’s evidence.
Meanwhile, counsel for the second and third defendants applied for the temporary release of their clients’ passports for renewal and urgent medical purposes.
Justice Dada granted the relief, ordering that the passports must be returned to the court’s registry no later than January 2, 2026. (Nigerian Tribune)
