Couple, Aminu Yaro and Saadatu Yaro, allegedly released after parting with 20 percent of N400bn looted from CBN

A couple, Aminu Yaro and Saadatu Yaro, has been reportedly left off the hook by the Department of State Service (DSS) after cutting a deal in which they only returned 20 percent of hundreds of billions allegedly looted from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Godwin Emefiele through phony contracts.

Controversial journalist, Jackson Ude said this in an X post on Thursday.

Aminu Yaro, Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos State and Chairman of Council of Arewa Chiefs in Southern Nigeria, and his wife were arrested by the DSS in their Lagos home on July 12, 2023.

Following the arrest, some groups, including the Concerned Northern Forum (CNF) and Arewa Human Rights Lawyers and Justice Centre, called for their release.

The lawyers claimed that the traditional title holder was unjustly arrested and detained to implicate Godwin Emefiele, the former CBN governor.

The couple was reportedly nabbed over alleged money laundering.

Reports indicated that Aminu Yaro deposited the sum of N130 billion into the bank account of his wife, a staff of a new generation bank.

This is amid reports that the DSS discovered the sum of N407 billion in Aminu Yaro’s account.

However, on July 25, 2023, Justice Edward Okpe of the FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, ordered the couple’s release by the secret police.

In Thursday’s post, Ude claimed that a dubious plea bargain arrangement was brokered between the couple and the DSS which saw them only return 20 percent of N450 billion traced to them.

“The couple, Aminu Yaro and Saadatu Yaro who allegedly looted over N450billion combined from the Central Bank of Nigeria through phony contracts only paid 20% of the billions to go free.

“For instance, Mrs. Yaro was accused and charged for stealing from N140billion from contracts while about N407billion were allegedly traced to several accounts owned by Mr. Yaro.

“The couple have been released by the DSS after they allegedly paid 20% of what was discovered in their accounts after a dubiously arranged plea bargain,” Ude, the publisher of PointBlankNews, stated.