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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that the Department of State Services (DSS) acted on a 2016 watch list request to arrest the immediate past director-general of Labour Party (LP), Doyin Okupe, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, in Lagos state, on Thursday, January 12.
The anti-graft agency also said that it was in the process of formally lifting the watch list on Okupe before his interception by the secret police on Thursday morning.
The commission, however, noted that it will expedite action and remove the Labour Party (LP) chieftain from its watch list, The Punch reports.
This was made known in a statement released by the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, on Thursday afternoon.
Uwujaren said that, “The Department of State Services (DSS), on January 12, informed the commission of the interception of Doyin Okupe, former presidential adviser, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
“The Service acted on a watch-list request issued on July 18, 2016, over six years before his recent conviction on money laundering charges by the federal high court, Abuja.
“The commission was in the process of formally lifting the watch-list before his interception and will expedite action in this regard,” he added.
Recall that the secret police, on Thursday, announced Okupe’s arrest when the former LP presidential council DG was on his way to London flight via Virgin Atlantic.
The DSS also said that the LP chieftain’s arrest was based on a directive from EFCC.
However, hours later, Okupe, in a tweet, said that he had been released, adding that security agents apologized to him for “the error.”
It is worth noting that Okupe resigned as the DG of the campaign of the presidential candidate of LP, Peter Obi, last December, after a high court in Abuja found him guilty of money laundering charges.
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