THE Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has again been sent to prison for contempt.
A Kogi State High Court presided by Justice R.O. Ayoola, on Monday, February 6, granted an application for Bawa’s committal to prison for disobeying a court ruling.
The judge instructed the Inspector General of Police Alkali Baba to detain Bawa for the next 14 days at Kuje Prison in the Federal Capital Territory until he cleansed himself of the contempt.
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The judge gave the order to arrest Bawa for disobeying a court ruling delivered on November 30, 2022, wherein the EFCC chairman was directed to produce an applicant in the case, Ali Bello.
Bello had asked the court to stop the EFCC from arresting and detaining him illegally.
The court ruled in his favour, only for the EFCC to arraign him for alleged money laundering three days after the verdict.
The court ordered that the EFCC and Bawa be served the motion of notice together with Form 49 by substituted means.
Bawa and the Commission were also ordered to tender an apology to Bello in a national newspaper. The court awarded N10 million compensation to the applicant.
On November 8, a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama also sentenced Bawa to jail over contempt.
The judge, Justice Chizoba Oji, convicted Bawa and ordered the Inspector of General of Police to remand him in Kuje Prison for disobeying an earlier order of the court.
Bawa is the fourth Executive Chairman of the EFCC. President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him on February 16, 2021.
A reporter with the ICIR
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