John Fashanu, A former England football star, was locked up for two days
in an Abuja prison over involvement in a land related scam. The former Wimbledon player and television personality was arrested
and held for two days because he was involved in a scam to sell land
that wasn’t for sale.
Police turned up at his home in the nation’s capital, Abuja and got
him arrested on suspicion of “criminal conspiracy,” Mirror reported on
Friday.
The 54-year-old allegedly pocketed £23,000 after acting for a friend who was looking to buy land.
Fashanu has reportedly agreed to pay back the money but has denied any wrongdoing.
A friend of the former footballer told the Mirror: “This is a
business deal between friends that has gone sour and the police were
asked to basically mediate.
“It will all be sorted very quickly. It was just a business deal.”
Fashanu was forced to surrender his British passport and pay the money back in instalments ahead of his release.
General Hyacinth Dagala, a Nigerian police Deputy Inspector, said:
“John Fashanu was arrested on July 17 in connection with an allegation
of criminal conspiracy and obtaining the sum of N9,550,000 [Nigerian
Naira] under false pretense.
“He was granted administrative bail on July 18 but because of his
inability to produce the requisite surety on that day, he remained in
detention until July 19 when he was released.”