DSS arrests Doyin Okupe at Lagos airport, hands him over to EFCC

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Doyin Okupe, a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP).

According to a statement on Thursday by Peter Afunanya, the DSS spokesperson, Okupe was intercepted at Terminal 1 of the airport at the instance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Afunanya said Okupe, who was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic airline, has been handed over to the EFCC.

“Doyin Okupe was intercepted by the DSS at Terminal 1 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos this morning at the instance of the EFCC. He has long been handed over to the Commission which requested for the action. Okupe was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic,” the statement reads.

THE BACKGROUND

The EFCC had arraigned Okupe in 2019 on a 59-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering and diversion of funds to the tune of N702 million.

He was arraigned alongside two companies – Value Trust Investment Ltd and Abrahams Telecoms Ltd.

In December 2022, Ijeoma Ojukwu, the presiding judge of an Abuja federal high court, sentenced Okupe to two years imprisonment for breaching the money laundering act.

Okupe was said to have received cash from the office of the national security adviser (NSA) while Sambo Dasuki, the NSA at the time, was in office.

The judge found Okupe guilty of contravening sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act by accepting cash payments in excess of the threshold allowed, without going through a financial institution.

He was found guilty of 26 out of a 59-count charge preferred against him by the EFCC.

The judge gave him an option of a N500,000 fine on each of the counts — totalling N13 million.

On the evening of the same day, Okupe paid the fine.