Chris Ngige, former Minister of Labour, is currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Fred Chukwuelobe, the ex-Minister’s media aide, confirmed this in an update on Thursday morning.

Chukwuelobe gave the real situation of things while reacting to reports that Ngige, who was governor of Anambra, had been abducted.

“I have been receiving calls in the past hour from friends and journalists seeking the veracity of the news making the rounds that His Excellency, Dr. Chris Ngige, former governor of Anambra state and immediate past minister of labour and employment, ‘has been kidnapped, Ngige is with the EFCC. He was not ‘abducted’ or ‘kidnapped’,’” he posted on Facebook.

It is unclear why the agency detained Ngige as the anti-graft agency is yet to react to the development as of the time of filing this report.

Ngige is the second ex-President Muhammadu Buhari-era minister to be detained by the EFCC in recent times.

Abubakar Malami, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, is also in custody.

Malami had disclosed that he was being probed over recovery of “Abacha loot”.

“The EFCC informed me that its inquiry relates to an alleged duplication in the recovery of the $310 million Abacha loot, which by accrual of interest rose to about $322.5 million as at the time I eventually succeeded in recovering the funds for the federal Government and, flowing from that assumption, two allegations were majorly raised, namely; abuse of office, and Money laundering,” he had said in a statement.

He, however, described the allegations as baseless, illogical and wholly devoid of substance, saying they would collapse, when subjected to facts and elementary logic.