Business Magnate, Nasiru Haladu Danu’s Huge Triumph Over UK

It was the Indian great statesman, Mahatma Gandhi who said “To lose patience is to lose the battle”. As it has been rightly observed that the two most powerful warriors are patience and time. This could best sum up how amiable business magnate, Alhaji Nasiru Haladu Dana feels about life. 

Spotlight gathered that for over a year, the suave, affable billionaire has quietly been in a legal tussle with the United Kingdom after the country’s Border Agency and Immigration officials intercepted him on arrival at the Heathrow Airport in London on September 13, 2019 after his then newly-acquired Maltese passport with which he travelled turned out to be fake.

The UK Border Agency officials also illegally seized the sum of $100,000 —his legitimate earning declared with the Nigerian Customs— found on him while on the aborted trip.

Danu protested the seizure of the money while he explained that he traveled with that amount of cash because his credit card had failed him repeatedly, leaving him stranded on a number of occasions. But despite his explanations, the UK Border Agency operatives were adamant and seized the cash. The two then approached a court for confiscation hearing.

Danu’s legal team challenged the UK Border agency’s move to permanently confiscate the money. And almost a year after, they succeeded. The UK Court found that the Immigration officials were wrong to seize the money as it was from legitimate income which was not intended for an unlawful purpose and ordered that the whole sum plus interest should therefore be returned to the Nigerian business mogul.

It was learnt that Danu’s Nigerian Bank account has been credited with the money with interest that accrued in the last one year as ordered by the London court on September 7. The monies were paid in two tranches of $50,471 as at September 23, 2020.

Spotlight gathered that the businessman was actually duped of $35,000 by a ‘travel agency’ which offered to help him obtain a Maltese passport. Unknown to him the passport delivered to him by the agency was fake.

On returning to Nigeria, Danu petitioned the State Security Service (SSS) over the passport fraud and his resultant arrest and deportation from the United Kingdom.

The SSS later referred the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which is now pressing charges against one Ms. Rabbi Okpara who used her travel agency to lure unsuspecting members of the public to buy into a sham travel/residency arrangement in Malta. 

For Danu, the Dan Amana Dutse of the Dutse Emirate in Jigawa State, his circle of friends cut across the who is who in high society including captains of industry, monarchs, politicians, socialites and celebrities. 

Danu, as a successful businessman, has built relationship and network with other powerful Nigerians from every part of the country including incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari. 

He has been in business for more than a decade and has made a success of his endeavour. His flagship company, Casiva Limited, has been a big player in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy. 

Casiva is not just in the Oil and Gas sector but also into Security, Civil and Mechanical Construction, Supply and Procurement. 

Sources close to the business mogul told Spotlight that he has been so happy that his patience to clear his name and have his legitimate money returned eventually paid off.

Original article written for TheSUN