The Nigeria Police Force has detained Comrade Segun Oluwasanmi, a whistleblower who accused Alpha-Beta Consulting Limited of corruption and tax evasion. A relative of Oluwasanmi told SaharaReporters on Thursday that he was taken into custody on Wednesday at the State Intelligence Department (SID) Command Headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos. “Comr Segun Oluwasanni was detained yesterday (14/01/25) by SID command headquarters, Ikeja. According to the IPO, he’s going to be arraigned in court today (15/01/26) but the court is yet to be disclosed,” the relative said. The family added that Oluwasanmi was allowed to contact his family and lawyer shortly before his detention. “He was just asked to call his family and lawyer when they decided to detain him few minutes to 7 p.m. yesterday,” the relative stated.
Police reportedly told the family that Oluwasanmi’s arrest was over allegations of cyber bullying against Alpha-Beta Consulting Limited, a firm widely reported to be linked to President Bola Tinubu. The relative, however, insisted the detention was connected to Oluwasanmi’s whistleblowing activities. He had previously submitted petitions to the police, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing the firm of systematic tax evasion, under-declaration of salaries, and under-remittance of statutory taxes. “What Alpha-Beta has been doing is this: they divided our salary into two, so that they will not pay tax on everything,” Oluwasanmi said. “What you will see in the payroll, especially up to 2022, is half of my salary. They were paying tax only on part of our salaries, and even on that part, they were underpaying.”
Oluwasanmi also alleged entrenched corruption, victimisation, and harassment within the company. “Within six months, he had inflated contracts in his care to the tune of over six million. I did the investigation. I have the reports,” he said of a procurement manager. He added, “For instance, a carton of printing paper was sold for ₦5,900. They bought it for ₦9,600. That’s an extra ₦3,700 on one carton.” While his whistleblowing initially earned him rewards, his relationship with the company soured after he accused the Chief Technology Officer of forging his signature. “I resigned on November 6 after they replied and asked me to be reporting to Olumide, the CTO who forged my signature,” Oluwasanmi said. “That was where he confessed to copying my signature, but they never released the report despite my follow-ups.”