MAINA’S SON RETURNS TO NIGERIA, WALKS INTO DSS TRAP

The Department of State Services has arrested Faisal, son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The DSS arrests Faisal Maina EFCC handover followed credible intelligence indicating that he had secretly returned to Nigeria after years on the run .

THE ARREST

Security sources said DSS operatives tracked and arrested Faisal in the Karsana area of Abuja before handing him over to the EFCC .

“His arrest followed credible intelligence which indicated that Faisal had secretly returned to the country,” a source said .

THE CONVICTION

Faisal had been on the run since 2020 after being arraigned by the EFCC on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering. He subsequently violated his bail conditions and fled the country.

In October 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment.

The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, held that the EFCC had established that Faisal operated a fictitious bank account with United Bank for Africa through which his father allegedly laundered N58.1 million .

The court said the money was deposited into an account operated in the name of “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” and withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.

In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld Faisal’s conviction but reduced his sentence from 14 years to seven years, ruling that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender .

THE FATHER’S CASE

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His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, served an eight-year prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja for laundering N2 billion in pension funds. He was released earlier in 2026 but was subsequently declared wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property .

WHY IT MATTERS

Faisal Maina’s arrest closes a chapter on one of the most high-profile money laundering cases in Nigeria’s recent history.

He fled the country rather than serve his sentence. His return and his arrest, sends a message that fugitives cannot outrun the law indefinitely.

For the EFCC, the handover means the sentence can finally be enforced. For the public, it is a reminder that justice, however delayed, can still be served.

ValidViewNetwork reports that Faisal is now in EFCC custody. He is expected to be remanded to serve his sentence.