Fani-Kayode alleges arbitrary arrest, detention by EFCC

Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has alleged illegal detention by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in an underground cell for about three months under the guise of investigating spurious offences and baseless allegations.

In a statement issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Jude Ndukwe, Fani-Kayode also alleged arbitrary arrest by the EFCC without a warrant and illegal detention without any order for 24 days.

The statement expressed worry over the alleged silence of the media on how a Federal High Court judge in Lagos, Justice Muslim Hassan, lambasted the EFFC and its prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, in an open court for arresting him within a court premises without a warrant, when the law clearly states that an arrest and detention should only take place after an investigation is completed.

“The arrest was made all the more damning by the fact that Justice Hassan had previously warned the EFCC not to re-arrest Fani-Kayode who had been previously detained by the commission for 67 days.

“Justice Hassan said this because he had granted Fani-Kayode court bail as far back as July 4th and at the previous court session, he had specifically warned and admonished the EFCC not to re-arrest or detain him after his lawyer told the court that that was what they were planning to do,” the statement reads in part.

It noted that the judge had told the EFCC that serving charges on an accused person should not warrant arrest and detention, and that he himself was once a prosecutor and that was not the way things are supposed to be done.

According to the statement, “When Oyedepo attempted to lie to the court and feign ignorance of the re- arrest and detention of Fani-Kayode and when he tried to proffer a justification for it after he was forced to admit that it happened, Justice Hassan urged him to stop defending the indefensible and advised him to tender his apologies to the court for the illegal behaviour of the commission.”

The former Director of Media and Publicity for the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation said: “It is important that the Nigerian people know the truth about the way in which the EFCC behaves and reporting events factually and accurately is the lifeblood of democracy. We urge the Nigerian media to rise up to the occasion and not allow themselves to be used by a group of ruthless headhunters who wish to cover up their atrocities.”