Ishaq Salako, the Minister of State for Environment, has deleted an X post in which he personally identified Ibrahim Egungbohun and congratulated him on his birthday.

Egungbohun, known as IBD Dende, is an Ogun State-based smuggler recently exposed in a series of investigations done by FIJ’s Fisayo Soyombo.

FIJ’s investigations exposed the serial smuggler and how his questionable tentacles stretched to the highest hierarchy of the Nigeria Customs Service, the federal border manager, enabling him to intimidate customs officers into doing his bidding.

READ ALSO: Undercover as a Smuggler

He is a friend and ally of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC); and Hussein Ejibunu, Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit Zone A. He boasted about his connection with these customs heads in an exclusive video published by FIJ on March 1.

Salako is also an indigene of Ogun State from Yewaland, which is IBD Dende’s ancestral town. He was previously a commissioner for health in Ogun State.

On March 3, IBD Dende’s birthday, Salako, now a minister in Tinubu’s government, posted a digital flyer he customised with IBD Dende’s image and wrote about his personal relationship with the smuggler.

“Dear Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun aka IBD Dende, THE OLUOMO OF YEWALAND & CHAIRMAN/CEO, IBD IMPEX GROUP OF COMPANIES, as you turn a year older today, it is an opportunity for me to celebrate you and appreciate your impactful philanthropy to humanity to which I am a living witness,” Salako wrote via @Salakoiziaq.

This post attracted an expected barrage of criticisms and condemnations from tweeps who found the message ridiculously unbecoming of a public office holder.

@SamdGreat01 wrote, “Is this not the same IBD Dende in Fisayo’s smuggling undercover operation? A Nigerian minister is not even pretending to dissociate from crimes.”

READ ALSO: VIDEO: IBD Dende Threatens to Kill Customs Officer for Seizing His Smuggled Goods

“So when the news broke about IBD Dende, we saw the coordinated attempt to swing the narrative and deny his links to government, especially the presidency,” a post by @oluobamzy stated in part.

“How do we explain that a minister of the federal republic decided to flaunt their relationship even in the face of the accusations? Is this a loud statement to say we don’t care about what you think?”