OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stormed the Abuja home of the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, on Wednesday, April 17, to arrest him.
The planned arrest is likely over the alleged sleaze he perpetrated while in office.
Bello currently has a case before James Omotosho, a judge of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, where he is accused with his nephew Ali Bello and two others, Dauda Sulaiman and Abdulsalam Hudu, of allegedly laundering N84 billion.
His house in the Wuse Zone 4 area of the nation’s capital was cordoned off as the operatives made spirited attempts to gain entry.
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However, according to a live broadcast of the siege by Arise Television, there are three major hurdles for the EFCC’s officers.
First, the former governor’s security aides are resisting the arrest because a court injunction restricts the EFCC from arresting the accused.
Second, the state’s incumbent governor, widely believed to be Bello’s kinsman, Ahmed Ododo, arrived at the compound with his security and other retinue of aides while the siege was on.
Third, many Bello supporters have thronged the area, chanting solidarity songs for him in apparent protest against the planned arrest.
Bello has yet to be arrested as of the time of filing this report, and he is most likely in the house.
The EFCC operatives, wielding dangerous arms as other security officers of Bello and Ododo on the streets, remained unfazed in their bid to smoke the former governor out of the house.
Reacting to the development, the ex-governor’s media office, in a statement, condemned the EFCC’s action and urged President Bola Tinubu to call the anti-graft agency to order.
According to the statement, the presence of the operatives in Bello’s residence negated the order of injunction granted on February 9, 2024, by the High Court of Justice, Lokoja Division, in Suit No. HCL/68M/2024 between Yahaya Bello v. EFCC, restraining the commission by itself or its agents from harassing, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting the former governor, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive fundamental rights enforcement action.
The statement said the EFCC was duly served with that order on February 12, 2024.
It added that the commission filed an appeal (Appeal No.: CA/ABJ/CV/175/2024) against the said order to the Court of Appeal Abuja Division on February 26, 2024.
“It is a surprise that an agency led by a lawyer could flagrantly disobey a subsisting court order by taking actions contrary to the reliefs granted.
“We are aware of the total commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s current administration to the rule of law and can say categorically that the EFCC leadership might have offered the agency on a platter of gold to desperate politicians to convert it to their score-settling tool without minding the effect on its integrity and the image of Nigeria as regards the rule of law,” the statement added.
According to Bello’s media office, the anti-graft agency was allegedly planning to humiliate and harass the former governor through false accusations.
The ICIR reported on March 15 that the EFCC filed charges against Bello, his nephew Ali Bello, Dauda Sulaiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu for alleged N84 billion money laundering.
The case was initiated before James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
The EFCC is prosecuting them on an amended 17-count charge of money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of N84 billion.
To allow for Yahaya Bello’s inclusion in the trial, Rotimi Oyedepo, a senior advocate, informed the court of an application to amend the charges against the defendants.
The judge granted the prayer, overruling objections from A.M Aliyu SAN and Olusegun Joolawo SAN, lawyers to Ali Bello and Suleiman, the first and second defendants.
According to a statement by the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, while Bello and Hudu were at large, Ali Bello and Suleiman, first and second defendants, respectively, who were present in court, “pleaded not guilty” to all the charges when they were read to them.
A reporter with the ICIR
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