Nigerian popstar, Oladapo Oyebanji, popularly known as D’banj, has been arrested and detained by officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC) over his involvement in fraud.
According to reports by Premium Times, Koko master like he is fondly called, was arrested and detained after ICPC operatives closed in on him, forcing him to surrender himself at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
D’banj is being accused of fraudulently diverting an undisclosed but huge amount of money allocated by the Nigerian government for N-Power project, an empowerment programme set up by the Nigerian government in 2016 to address youth unemployment and increase social development.
Insiders said he was summoned for interrogation over the allegation for many weeks but did not show up, with claims that he was abroad on scheduled concerts.
According to the allegation, after investigation, it was revealed that D’banj and some other compromised government officials introduced ghost beneficiaries into the payroll of the N-Power scheme. The stipend paid to those beneficiaries are then paid to accounts that have now allegedly been linked to the pop star.
After some weeks of waiting for the musician to show up and he did not, the ICPC moved to arrest him anywhere in Nigeria and abroad, which forced him to show up by himself at the commission’s office on Tuesday.
Upon his arrival at the commission’s office, D’banj was subjected to a prolonged interrogation session after which he was detained and his pleas for administrative bail rejected. The ICPC officials claimed that the musician could not be trusted to attend his trial if released on bail.
Truth Live News gathered from the online newspaper that the ICPC might approach the court on Wednesday December 7, for an extended remand order to enable the agency complete its investigation before charging the popstar to court.
The ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, could not be reached to comment on the story.
Credit: Premium Times