The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) says it can arrest anyone without a warrant.
Chile Okoroma, director, legal
and prosecution of the EFCC, said this on Wednesday at a hearing organised by
senate anti-corruption committee.
The committee had invited the
agency over the arrest of Innocent Chukwuma, chairman of Innoson Group.
In December, operatives of EFCC
arrested Chukwuma at his Enugu residence. They were said to have manhandled his
wife.
Chukwuma had accused Guaranty
Trust Bank (GTB) of being behind the encounter with the EFCC but the bank
denied it.
A motion was brought to the
senate in respect of the matter and the lawmakers resolved to investigate it.
At the hearing, Okoroma said the
EFCC could intervene in a matter if it had detected anything criminal in it.
“We can arrest a person with or
without a warrant. I want to correct an impression, EFCC did not invade the
residence of Innoson,” he said.
“I want to know the extent of
this hearing because this is a case filed on 12th December 2012.”
When asked if the EFCC invited
Chukwuma before going to his house, Okoroma said yes. But the committee members
said he had no proof.
Asked if the operatives went with
a warrant, Okoroma said he would get back to the committee.
On his part, Joseph Mbadugha,
representative of Chukwuma, argued that the matter between GTB and Innoson had
nothing to do with financial crime.
Mbadugha said Chukwuma was not
involved in any illegal transaction.
“If you look at the EFCC act, the
subject matter between GT bank and Innoson does not fall under financial crimes
and EFCC knows that,” he said.
“Innoson did not approach GTB to
obtain wealth illegally. The EFCC operatives that came to arrest him slapped
his wife. Of course, she asked them of their warrant of arrest. They also beat
up one Chidozie who was living with him. They used tear gas on him for failing
to tell them where he was. The EFCC operatives maltreated him as well.”
The committee led by Chukwuka
Utazi said the senate would not allow the rights of Nigerians to be trampled.
The hearing was adjourned
indefinitely.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com