By Ismail Auwal
Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mustapha Balogun, is dead.
Balogun, died at a hospital in Lekki, Lagos at about 8:30 pm on Thursday during a brief illness, according to family sources.
Balogun was born in Ogun State in August 1947 and rose through the ranks to become the IGP in 2002 taking over from Aliyu Attah.
The former IGP made headlines for stealing and laundering more than $100 million from the police treasury during his three years in that position.
He struck a deal with the judge to enter a plea in exchange for returning most of the goods and funds. Following the filing of 70 accusations against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under Nuhu Ribadu, spanning the time period from 2002 to 2004, when he served as the Inspector General of Police, he was given a six-month prison sentence.
Judge Binta Nyako said her sentence reflected that Balogun was a first offender and had shown remorse. He was directed by the court to pay N500, 000 on each of eight counts charges totaling N4 million.
His trial was full of drama. One of such was when he collapsed on his seat on June 29, 2005, at the Abuja High Court.
The former police boss, who pleaded guilty to eight of the 56 count-charges directly affecting him, was convicted and sentenced to six months in each of the charges, which is however to run concurrently.
He was released on February 9, 2006 after serving his sentence, part of it at Abuja’s National Hospital.
