Breaking: EFCC and prison officials were fighting over Maina at the time

On Monday, after Abdulrasheed Maina, the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, was sentenced, there was an altercation at the federal high court in Abuja (PRTT).

Maina was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to 61 years in prison, according to previous reports.

Following the announcement of the verdict, members of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) clashed with counterparts from the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).

Following the judge’s sentencing, prison officials, who had been waiting in the courtroom and on the court grounds, led Maina out.

However, the EFCC operatives insisted that Maina ride in their vehicle, which caused some confusion.

The EFCC had charged Maina with money laundering on a 12-count charge worth N2 billion.

Corruption is a persistent problem in Nigeria. Nigeria was estimated to have lost over $400 billion to corruption since independence in 2012, according to estimates. The country was ranked 144th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Index in 2018. (with Somalia, at 180th, being the most corrupt, and Denmark the least).