— Anti-graft agency arrests stepbrother, mother
By Dayo Johnson, Akure
AKURE — The Ondo State Public Complaints, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption Commission, SPFACC, has arrested a middle-aged man identified as Tunde and his mother over the alleged withdrawal and diversion of N59 million from the bank account of his late father.
The arrests followed a petition by the only surviving child of the deceased, who lives abroad and returned to Nigeria after the death of his father, stepmother and two half-siblings within one week in August 2024.
According to a family source, the deceased died on August 11, 2024, while his first wife died three days later on August 14.
One of their children reportedly died on August 16, while the other, who lived in Ore, died on August 18.
The deceased was said to have had two wives. His first wife had three children, while the second wife had one child. The only surviving child is the one living abroad.
The cause of the four deaths has not been officially established.
Confirming the development, the Secretary of SPFACC, Prof. Adewole Adeyeye, said the commission commenced investigation after the surviving child discovered that N59 million belonging to his late father had been withdrawn after his death.
Adeyeye said the suspect, who is the son of the deceased’s second wife, was arrested alongside his mother.
He added that the suspect admitted withdrawing the money but denied any involvement in the deaths of his father, stepmother and half-siblings.
“The man died on the 11th, the first wife died on the 14th, the first child died on the 16th, while the last child, who lived in Ore, died on the 18th.
“The only child who survived was the one living abroad. He returned and went to the bank, where he discovered that his late father had N59 million which was withdrawn after his death.
“We swung into action and the culprit and his mother have been arrested,” Adeyeye said.
He said the deceased also left behind several properties, including about four buildings, lock-up shops, a resort centre and plots of land, which the suspect allegedly sold.
According to him, the commission has so far recovered N10 million from the proceeds of the alleged transactions.
Adeyeye said the commission was treating the matter as a family dispute involving alleged misappropriation of jointly inherited assets.
“It is a collective family property which was misappropriated by one person.
“We are paying great attention to the family and are trying to settle the matter amicably, since it is a family matter,” he said.
The commission, however, stressed that it had not established any connection between the alleged withdrawal or diversion of the deceased’s assets and the deaths of the four family members.
Adeyeye said the commission, under its Chairman, Justice Williams Akin Akintoroye, would continue to investigate petitions involving alleged corruption and financial crimes in the state.
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