The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission
(ICPC) has traced N840 million to the bank account of one Theodora Atsu, a maid
working under a retired President of the Benue State Customary Court of Appeal,
Margaret Igbeta.
ICPC’s Spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, in a statement in Abuja, said that
the retired President of the Customary Court of Appeal was accused of operating
a proxy fixed deposit account in the name of Atsu, which accumulated to
N870,321,492.15 between 2008 and 2019.
According to Okoduwa, she was said to have opened the account with her
passport and the name of Atsu on March 5, 2008, with an initial deposit of N8
million, adding that she subsequently made several other huge deposits,
including N123,745,925.57 and N5 million in March and May 2008.
The spokesperson said the commission noted that the money was far above her
legitimate earnings both as a judge and President of the Customary Court of
Appeal within the period that the account was operated.
She, therefore, disclosed that the commission had requested a Federal High
Court, Abuja, to order the interim forfeiture of N840 million traced to Igbeta.
The commission, in an ex-parte motion filed at the court, said that the
order would stop Igbeta from accessing the money alleged to have been obtained
through fraudulent activities in the course of her official duties.
