A key witness in the on-going probe by the Nigerian Senate into the $27 million missing funds of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, USA, has decided to take extra measures to stay “alive and unharmed” after being trailed by suspicious characters.

Emeka Ugwuonye, a US-based lawyer during whose tenure as the Emassy’s attorney the said $27 million was realised from property sales, is scheduled to testify before the Nigerian Senate Committee investigating the missing funds tomorrow.

“I look forward to it, really. But as you know, it is quite a serious business. I want to also add that I would be busy staying alive and unharmed till that moment,” Ugwuonye, who is currently in fee dispute with the Embassy, said this evening on his Facebook wall.
Relating his experience in Lagos, South-West Nigeria, Ugwuonye said: “Well, I don’t want to panic anybody, but yesterday evening, my car was followed. It was too obvious my car was being followed. I won’t discuss the details without exposing how and why there was no incident in the end. But if I get the opportunity to right a memoir, I will disclose the drama of yesterday’s evening. Because of that incident, I would either not step out today or I would follow a different route if I do.”

Ugwuonye, who has a branch of his ECULAW Group in Lagos, is scheduled to fly to Abuja, the Nigerian capital, tomorrow for his Senate appearance. The Nigerian upper house launched the investigation following a petition by an NGO, Transform Nigeria Movement (TNM), which attached details of how the money was realised, the bank into which it was lodged, and evidence that it has been stolen by yet-to-be-identified persons.

•Photo shows Ugwuonye.