The Ebonyi State Government said on Thursday that the 25-year-old lady, Miss Vivian lgwe, who was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged involvement in N17 million fraudulent transaction was not its staff.

The state governor, Chief David Umahi, said that the lady was not known to him as a staff in the Protocol Unit of the State Government House, Abakaliki.

The governor spoke to newsmen in Abakaliki the state capital through the Commissioner for Internal Security and Boarder Peace, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha.

He noted that lgwe was not a civil servant in anyway neither in the pay roll of the state government but a mere messenger who comes around to help staff of the Protocol Unit.

News Express recalls that the incident was reported few days ago both in the social media and newspapers that she was arrested by the men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) from the Ebonyi State Police Area Command at one of the branches of Ecobank and later handed over to the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from the Enugu zonal office, who whisked her away.

According to the governor, “The girl (lady) involved in the N17 million illegal transaction was not a staff of Government House.

“She is just a casual messenger to one of the offices, especially the former D.O.P. she is not in any way a staff of any ministry. And we wouldn't want to go into detail of how she came about the N17 million in her account. But all we know is that the security agencies are already on top of the matter.

“And we know that at the end of the EFCC investigation, they will come up with the better information and knowledge of how the money entered into the girl’s account.

“In my own interrogation, I asked the girl of who gave her the money. She said she is not aware that such money entered into her account. I equally asked her whether she gave her account number to any person, she said a family friend who lived in Lagos demanded of her account number last March, who later sent her N2,500.

“The truth remains that if she has hand in it, she will go in for it. The true position of the government is that, she is not a staff of any ministry nor the Protocol of the Government House.”

The suspect, Ms Vivian Igwe, is already undergoing interrogation at the Enugu zonal office of the EFCC.

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