N8b currency scam: Court orders arrest of accused

Justice Joyce Abdulmaleek of the Federal High Court, Ibadan on Tuesday ordered the arrest and remand of one Olukunle Siwade, one of the accused persons in the alleged of N8 billion Central Bank of Nigeria currency scam.
Abdulmaleek gave the order following the non-appearance of Siwade and his counsel when he was called at the resumed trial.
Siwade had been granted bail in the case involving him and Kolawole Babalola, Adeola Olaniran, Philip Togun and Kehinde Fatokun.
The judge adjourned the case till Wednesday for further trial.
Meanwhile, in a sister case before Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel, Chiefson Ilagha, a retired official of the CBN, testified that the inspection team in which he was one of the members discovered many boxes containing cut newspapers instead of money.
Ilagha added that certain boxes were money marked for destruction because they were mutilated.
The retired CBN official said that those set of boxes contained N1,000 denomination and amounted to N10 million.
Ilagha further stated that there were other boxes containing other denominations that were replaced with cut newspapers.
Patient Okoro, Johnson Afolabi, Sunday Ilori, Fatai Adedokun, Babalola, Olaniran, Togun, Fatogun, Olaniran, and Siwade had since 2015 been standing trial.
They were arraigned on multiple charges bordering on conspiracy, forgery, stealing and recirculation of mutilated currencies at the Ibadan branch of CBN.