A former military chief in the Nigerian Navy and ex-Director of Navy Accounts, Rear Admiral Tahir Yusuf (retd.) has refused to heed a court order directing him to release motorcycles, a tricycle and a Toyota Corolla vehicle he forcefully took from his wife’s bakery facility in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Although a magistrate court in Kaduna State ordered the release of the motorcycles and car taken from Bitmas Bakery Limited in Zaria, Yusuf has refused to obey the court order.
SaharaReporters gathered that the bakery is owned by the retired admiral’s wife.
Sources said Yusuf who is currently wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged N2billion corruption, sneaked into Nigeria in October 2021 after he illegally obtained an international passport with the help of some corrupt government officials through Niger Republic.
He was said to have stormed the bakery with military guards provided by the Navy authorities and taken the vehicle, motorcycles and others found in it to his personal house.
“He also assaulted the manager of the bakery,” a source added.
Court documents seen by SaharaReporters ordered the fugitive to release the vehicle, motorcycles and tricycle.
However, since the court ruling on October 25, he has not released them to the owners.
SaharaReporters had reported that the EFCC accused Yusuf of stealing N2billion belonging to the Nigerian government while serving as Director of Nigerian Navy Accounts.
In 2020, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja also ordered the permanent forfeiture of about N500 million found to be fraudulently amassed by the military officer to the Nigerian government.
The total amount forfeited was N392,695,857.87, including $91,955.38 and the sum of £15,050 held in domiciliary accounts.
Yusuf, previously second-in-command to the Chief of Account and Budget, Naval Headquarters (NHQ), held the cash in seven accounts- both private and corporate in two banks.
The seven accounts were operated under the name of a company, Bitmas Enterprise, in Zenith Bank while two were held in Yusuf’s name in the defunct Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank.
Following the forfeiture, SaharaReporters gathered that Yusuf fled Nigeria to Dubai, United Arab Emirate.
The EFCC and National Intelligence Agency also asked the Nigeria Immigration Service and Interpol to place him on a watch list and have him arrested at the point of entry or exit.
