A Federal High Court on Thursday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr. Ayodele Oke and his wife, Folashade.

The presiding judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke gave the order following an oral application by the EFCC Counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, seeking bench warrants against Oke and his wife after they failed to appear in court to face their trial for the second time.

The anti-graft agency had planned to arraign the defendants last week Friday but the couple failed to come to court, which forced the court to adjourn the case to Thursday, February 7.

When the matter came up on Thursday, Oyedepo told Justice Aneke that the defendants could not be found and that they had also refused to pick calls from EFCC operatives. It was based on this development that the judge granted their application.

EFCC had filed a four-count fraud charge against the couple following the recovery of $43,449,947, £27,800 and ₦23,218,000 from Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, No. 16 Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos allegedly owned by them.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in October 2017, sacked Oke following the report of an investigative panel headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo into allegations of fraud levelled against him.