BREAKING: Nigerian Police Detain Whistleblower For Exposing Corruption At Tinubu-Linked Alpha-Beta Firm, Set To Arraign Him

 A relative of Oluwasanmi told SaharaReporters on Thursday morning that the former Alpha-Beta employee was detained on Wednesday at the State Intelligence Department (SID) Command Headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos.

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 morning that the former Alpha-Beta employee was detained 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 stated in a message.

The family member 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.

According to the family, police claimed the arrest was over allegations of cyber bullying against Alpha-Beta Consulting Limited, a firm widely reported to be linked to President Bola Tinubu.

“They claimed his offence was cyber bullying against Alpha Beta. We knew he was arrested for exposing the corruption in the company,” the relative said, adding that he was arrested by officers at the Nigeria Police Force Command Headquarters, Ikeja.

Oluwasanmi’s arrest follows a series of petitions and public allegations he made against Alpha-Beta Consulting, a private firm contracted by the Lagos State Government for tax and revenue collection.

The allegations were submitted to the police, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), with copies sent to the Federal and Lagos State Ministries of Finance through the Lagos State chapter of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR).

In his petition, Oluwasanmi accused the firm of systematic tax evasion through the under-declaration of staff 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,” he 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,” he added.

In his petition, Oluwasanmi accused the firm of systematic tax evasion through the under-declaration of staff 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,” he 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,” he added.

According to Oluwasanmi, the smaller portion of salaries reflected on payroll meant that taxes were calculated on a reduced base and allegedly under-remitted.

“You are paying tax on the salary you divided into two. You are paying tax on one part. The part you are paying tax on, you are also still underpaying,” he said.

Internal company correspondence attached to the petition supports his claims. A memo dated April 30, 2024, signed by the Head of Human Capital Management, Anjolaoluwa Grace Ige, disclosed that a Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) audit uncovered under-remittance of tax.