EFCC: Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday barricaded the Abuja home of the immediate-past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
The house of the former governor, who had been having a running battle with the EFCC before finishing his tenure as governor in January, is located on Benghazi Street in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.
The siege to the former governor’s house apparently to arrest him lasted about seven hours on Wednesday.
EFCC operatives had arrived at the house at about 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, encountering stiff resistance from police personnel attached to Mr Bello’s residence.
The police officers prevented the EFCC operatives from entering Mr Bello’s premises.
The anti-graft agencies officials then cordoned off the house, parking a bus at each end of the stretch of the premises to block vehicular passage in front of the house.
In a display of solidarity, a group of youths from Ebira, Mr Bello’s ethnic extraction, gathered outside the former governor’s residence. The youths, numbering about 100, expressed support for the former governor and discontent with the EFCC’s siege to the house.
“We did not invite EFCC to Kogi State. We have a governor who never complained about any financial crime by Yahaya Bello. They don’t have the right to arrest him. We are going to be here,” one of the youths said.
Some bureau de change (BDC) operators, who ply their trade near the house, told our reporter how they initially thought the EFCC operatives had come after them.
EFCC operatives had on different occasions raided the area, the largest hub of bureau de change operators in Abuja, in a bid to check illegal forex activities in the country.
The BDC operators said their initial fear was allayed only after it was clear that Mr Bello’s residence was the EFCC operatives’ target.
At about 2.30 p.m., Mr Bello’s successor, Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State, arrived at the house in a convoy of vehicles with police riders. Mr Bello had helped Mr Ododo to win last year’s election to office.
The governor’s convoy came to a halt at one side of the barricades. Moments later, a man, clad in suit, came out of the gated house, and spoke with the EFCC operatives manning the barrier. The governor’s official vehicle was then allowed to drive through the barricade into the premises.
At about 4.30 p.m., about two hours after entering the premises, the governor’s official vehicle emerged from the gate of the house and zoomed away. It was followed by the waiting convoy of vehicles that had arrived with the governor.
Unsure if Mr Bello was with Governor Ododo in the vehicle, EFCC operatives, who had strategically taken positions around the area, began to beckon to one another, signalling the end of the operation. They also drove away from the place at about 5.00 p.m.
EFCC has yet to comment on Wednesday’s development as of the time of filing this report at 6.00p.m on Wednesday. The commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, did not answer our reporter’s repeated phone calls seeking his comment.
Bello reacts
Meanwhile, Mr Bello, through his media office, on Wednesday, condemned what it referred to as a siege to his house. He said in a statement that EFCC’s attempt to arrest him constituted a violation of a subsisting court order.
The statement read in part, “At about 9:30 am this morning, the 17th day of April 2024, persons who described themselves as officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrived the Wuse Zone 4 Residence of His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello to effect his arrest.
“This is despite a subsisting Order of injunction granted on 9th February 2024 by the High Court of Justice, Lokoja Division in Suit No. HCL/68M/2024 between Alhaji Yahaya Bello v. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, restraining the Commission either by itself or its agents from harassing, arresting, detaining or prosecuting Alhaji Yahaya Bello, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive fundamental rights enforcement action.
“The EFCC was duly served with that Order on 12th February 2024 and on 26th February 2024; the EFCC filed an Appeal (Appeal No.: CA/ABJ/CV/175/2024: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission v. Alhaji Yahaya Bello) against the said Order to the Court of Appeal Abuja division. The Appeal was accompanied by a Motion for Stay of Execution of the Order of the High Court which the Court of Appeal adjourned for hearing till the 22nd day of April 2024.”
The statement also said EFCC’s action came ahead of a judgement scheduled for noon on Wednesday on a fundamental rights suit Mr Bello had instituted against the anti-graft agency.
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The judgement, later delivered on Wednesday by the Kogi State High Court in Lokoja, the state capital, barred the EFCC from arrest Mr Bello.
Background
The EFCC’s longtime interest in Mr Bello led to the filing of N10 billion money laundering charges against his nephew Ali Bello and a co-defendant at the Federal High Court in Abuja in 2022.
Days after he finished his tenure, the EFCC, on 5 February, amended the charges, raising the number of counts from 10 to 17 against the younger Bello and his co-defendant, Dauda Suleiman, in a trial that dates back to 2022.
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