The resurfacing of a long-buried scandal involving Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), former Chief of Naval Staff and now Sole Administrator of Rivers State, has once again thrust Nigeria’s military corruption under national scrutiny.
In 2016, during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, a staggering $10 million reportedly vanished from Ibas’ private residence in the affluent Bourdillon area of Ikoyi, Lagos. The incident, quietly hushed within military circles, was the subject of a covert investigation led by Commodore Aminu Saleh, then Military Attaché and now Chief of Staff to Ibas.
According to sources familiar with the internal probe, several naval domestic aides were arrested and subjected to extensive interrogation. Though the funds were eventually recovered, the scandal was deliberately buried. No prosecutions. No court cases. Just silent dismissals, and silence from the top.
Insiders allege the funds could have originated from “operational allocations” unmonitored dollar supplies routinely handed to senior officers under the guise of national security. Others point to oil bunkering, a shadowy enterprise long linked to military protection and patronage, as the likely source.
“Everyone knew. It was common knowledge in the Navy, but it was swept under the carpet because of who was involved,” a senior officer told Akelicious under condition of anonymity.
This episode paints a damning portrait of a man now entrusted with the reins of governance in Rivers State. Vice Admiral Ibas’ quiet survival of this scandal, followed by his political elevation, speaks volumes about the culture of impunity festering within Nigeria’s power structures.
The unanswered questions remain haunting:
Who gave Ibas access to $10 million in cash?
What was the money for?
And why was the public kept in the dark?
As Nigeria grapples with deepening insecurity, economic hardship, and a crisis of leadership, the Ikoyi $10 million affair is a brutal reminder that the rot often starts at the top.
Neither the Nigerian Navy nor Vice Admiral Ibas has issued any official statement, eight years later, and still, no accountability.
