Ø Fleeing son, Faisal, arrested
Former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, (PRTT), AbdulRasheed Maina has just collapsed in court during his trial.
The former pension boss collapsed at exactly 10:05 a.m., when his counsel, Anayo Adibe was making submissions before Justice Okon Abang handling his trial.
Before the collapse of the former pension boss, his counsel was praying the court for an adjournment to enable him get record of the proceedings of the court to enable him prepare for the no case submission he intends to file on behalf of his client.
The court had to rise abruptly to enable officials of the Correctional Service and relations of the former pension boss to attend to him.
The Federal Government is prosecuting Maina in a 12-count charge before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The matter was on Wednesday adjourned till yesterday, December 10, for the defendant to argue his no case application and for the prosecution to respond to the same orally.
Meanwhile, Maina’s son Faisal Maina, has reportedly been arrested. This came barely one week after Maina, who had jumped bail in his on-going N2bn money laundering trial at the Federal Court in Abuja, was arrested in the Niger Republic and brought back to the court.
Faisal, who is being prosecuted in a separate three-count money laundering case at the same court, had jumped bail and stopped attending trial which had continued in his absence.
At the resumed hearing in the case yesterday, the surety’s lawyer, Mr. M. E. Sheriff, urged the court to suspend the hearing of the forfeiture proceedings on the grounds that he got information that Faisal had been arrested.