DSS Arrests Maina’s Fugitive Son in Abuja After Six Years on the Run

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, son of former Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT) chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, in Abuja and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to enforce his outstanding conviction for money laundering.

Faisal was reportedly arrested in the Karsana area of the Federal Capital Territory after security operatives received intelligence indicating that he had secretly returned to Nigeria.

Security sources disclosed that the DSS tracked and apprehended him before transferring him to the EFCC, which had prosecuted him over financial crimes.

His arrest, reported on Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17, 2026, brings a fresh development to a case that has remained unresolved since he allegedly fled the country in 2020 after being granted bail.

Faisal had faced a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and conspiracy brought by the EFCC. His trial continued in his absence after he reportedly breached his bail conditions and left Nigeria.

In October 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him on the money-laundering charges and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment.

READ ALSO:

• NAPTIP Raises Alarm as Parents Allegedly Trade Children for Sex, Arrests Woman in Abuja
• Tesla’s Flying Roadster Rekindles Race to Put Cars in the Sky
• Troops Crush Lakurawa Enclave in Sokoto, Kill Fighters, Destroy Terrorist Camps

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

The court found that the money was deposited into an account operated in the name of Alhaji Faisal Farm 2 and withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.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 prison sentence from 14 years to seven years. The appellate court ruled that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.

The court had also ordered that Faisal be arrested wherever he was found in Nigeria and taken into custody to serve his sentence. It further directed the Federal Government to take lawful steps to secure his extradition if he was found outside the country.

His transfer to the EFCC is expected to facilitate the implementation of the court’s judgment and the enforcement of the outstanding prison sentence.

The arrest also comes amid renewed legal troubles involving his father, Abdulrasheed Maina, who formerly headed the now-defunct PRTT.

The elder Maina was convicted in a separate pension-fund fraud case and served an eight-year prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja before his release earlier in 2026.

He was subsequently declared wanted by the EFCC over an alleged case involving the receipt of stolen property.

The EFCC’s actions against both father and son stem from separate legal proceedings, and the allegations in the elder Maina’s latest case remain distinct from Faisal’s existing conviction.

Faisal’s arrest is expected to allow the relevant authorities to take further steps in enforcing the court order after years of his absence from the country.

The DSS and EFCC had not publicly provided further details about the next steps following the reported transfer at the time of publication.