A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has granted the former Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Ahmed Kuru, permission to travel abroad for urgent medical attention.
Presiding judge, Justice Mojisola Dada, on Monday ruled that Kuru’s international passport be released to enable him to travel to London, United Kingdom, where his treatment will take place.
While the exact nature of the illness was not disclosed during proceedings, Kuru’s counsel, Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya, told the court that the ex parte application indicated “extreme urgency” in seeking medical care overseas.
Counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wahab Shittu, SAN, did not object to the application. However, he raised a red flag regarding intelligence reports that the first defendant, Kamilu Omokide, former Receiver Manager of Arik Air Limited, and the third defendant, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Chief Executive Officer of Arik Air, were allegedly planning to dispose of aircraft linked to the ongoing trial.
Shittu questioned whether the travel request was not a pretext to sell the said aircraft, believed to be stationed in France. He urged the court to order that status quo be maintained on the assets. However, he acknowledged that the application should still be determined on its merits.
In her response, Badejo-Okusanya stressed that the EFCC’s claims did not concern her client, who was only seeking medical treatment in the UK, not France. Also, counsel to Union Bank, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, dismissed the EFCC’s intelligence as speculative, insisting there was no proof before the court.
After listening to all parties, Justice Dada held that there was insufficient evidence to issue any restraining orders regarding the aircraft, noting that no documents were tendered to support the EFCC’s request.
In January 2025, the EFCC arraigned Kuru alongside Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, Super Bravo Limited, and two others on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraud, and theft relating to the alleged diversion of ₦76 billion and $31.5 million from Arik Air.
Kuru was listed as the second defendant, while Union Bank was charged with making false statements to a public officer. The others face charges of abuse of office and criminal conversion of funds and property.
All the defendants pleaded not guilty and were granted bail in the sum of ₦20 million each, with one surety apiece. They were also directed to deposit their passports with the court.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Union Bank knowingly misrepresented Arik Air’s performing loans in 2011, which led to the unjustified transfer of ₦71 billion to AMCON. It further claimed that in 2022, Kuru, Omokide, and Ilegbodu diverted ₦4.9 billion to NG Eagle Ltd and authorised the teardown of aircraft 5N-JEA, valued at $31.5 million, to the detriment of Arik Air and Nigeria’s economy.
The charges were brought under various provisions of the Lagos State Criminal Law and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law.
The court’s decision has reignited public debate on the frequent medical trips undertaken by Nigerian public figures facing trial.
Reacting to the ruling, human rights lawyer Kunle Edun, SAN, questioned why nearly every high-profile defendant in Nigeria seeks medical treatment abroad. He called on looters to instead invest in world-class hospitals across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
“The courts must also help Nigerians. When they realise the courts are no longer granting them such liberties, they will rush to equip our hospitals,” Edun said.
Public dissatisfaction over Nigeria’s crumbling healthcare infrastructure continues to mount. Analysts have long argued that leaders seeking medical care abroad is a symptom of systemic neglect, one that drains foreign reserves and weakens the country’s healthcare sovereignty.
Commentator Abbanobi-Eku Onyekachi highlighted that even past presidents like Muhammadu Buhari and Senate President Joseph Wayas sought care abroad, further undermining efforts to develop Nigeria’s health sector.
