THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday laid siege to the residence of former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS), Abdullahi Inde Dikko, for about nine hours between 7am and 4pm in a futile effort to arrest him.

Dikko was said to be outside the country at the time of the siege.
For several hours, his Ahmed Musa Crescent home in Jabi area of Abuja was searched in his absence.

A source at the commission told The Guardian that EFCC operatives had arrived the house early in the morning, adding that the former NCS boss was being investigated on issues of alleged corruption.

But he could not explain if the investigations are linked to the raging arms purchase probe that has enveloped some prominent Nigerians.
The EFCC operatives came in two white Toyota buses, with registration numbers RSH 555 BJ and BWA 645 GA.
Opposite the crescent, two Customs operational vehicles were on guard, one at the beginning of the crescent and the other adjacent the house.
There was a deployment of security operatives, including armed riot policemen attached to the commission and other operatives in mufti.

It could not be ascertained whether the commission sought to arrest the former NCS boss, but its Acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, had stated earlier in the week that the arrest of more prominent Nigerians was in the offing.

The 55-year-old Katsina State-born Dikko was appointed into office on August 17, 2009 and served under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan until he resigned his appointment four months into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari last year, in what many believed was a fast move to avoid a sack.
EFCC Spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, told The Guardian that he was yet to be aware of the raid on Dikko’s residence at press time.