The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday
detained Mrs. Precious Fani-Kayode, who is the wife of a former Minister of
Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, in Ado Ekiti for hours.
Precious, who was a guest of Governor Ayodele Fayose, had
gone to a branch of Access Bank in Ado Ekiti around 3pm when she was detained
by officials of the bank.
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| Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State. |
Sensing that she was not being promptly attended to, she
inquired from officials what the problem was and was told she was being
detained on the instructions of the EFCC.
Precious, who had her eight-month-old baby with her at the
time, was prevented from leaving the banking hall thereafter.
It took the intervention of Fayose, who led scores of supporters
to the bank around 7pm to secure her release.
Speaking with our correspondent after the incident, Mrs.
Fani-Kayode lamented that she was badly treated by the officials while her baby
was denied food.
She stated, “I’m not a politician and that account had
been dormant for about five years. I only activated it last month in Port
Harcourt.
“I decided to go to Access Bank to make some withdrawals
when I was detained on the instructions of the EFCC.
“They told me the account had been frozen and they were asked
by the EFCC to arrest me on the spot.
“I have been operating the account since 2005 when I was a
student in the university. They had earlier frozen my two bank accounts which
they have not opened till today and I have been waiting for them to invite me,
but up till today, they have not.
“The balance in the account is just N200,000; so, I don’t
know what their interest is. I’m a private person. I have not received any
political fund; so, why are they trying to starve my family?
“That account has nothing to do with politics. This is
dehumanising. I had to call the governor to inform him of the development.”
Condemning the action of the EFCC and the attitude of the
bank officials, Fayose warned the anti-graft agency against becoming lawless
and reckless against Nigerians.
He asked the commission to prepare for a stiff resistance
if it did not stop “persecuting” him and his friends.
Fayose added, “They can’t try that nonsense in my state.
If they try it, there will be a showdown. They are over-stepping their
boundary. This is a country that operates a constitution. What kind of
molestation is this, taking away the rights of Nigerians because you are
investigating?
“Must they terrorise people because they are in
opposition? I have demanded an apology from the bank. If it fails to do that,
I’m done with them. This is lawlessness.”
In a telephone interview with our correspondent, Femi
Fani-Kayode, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, urged the government
to leave his family members alone and face him.
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| Femi Fani-Kayode |
Fani-Kayode stated, “This government is sick and cowardly
and so is the EFCC. If you have a problem with me, face me and leave my family
alone.
“My wife travelled to Ado Ekiti to see my friend and
brother, Governor Fayose, and his family. They were on their way out of town
when they went to Access Bank in Ado Ekiti to get some money.
“They were illegally detained, brutalised and put under
arrest on the orders of the EFCC at a bank in Ado Ekiti today.
“She has never had any business with me; she has never
been formally invited by the EFCC or asked any questions about her transactions
and neither has it written to her on any issue even though it is always sending
letters to my house and sending people there.
“If Buhari wants to deal with me, why doesn’t he face me
like a man instead of trying to harm and hurt my eight-month-old son and wife.
“Had it not been for the intervention of Governor Ayo
Fayose, they would have taken them away and subjected them to all manner of
harm and indignity simply because she is married to me.
“This is Buhari’s Nigeria and we will resist his
wickedness and tyranny.”
Fani-Kayode said he intended to sue the bank and the EFCC
for this “illegal and wicked action.”
He added, “They have no right to do this. If they want to
see my wife, all they need to do is to invite her. We have nothing to fear.
They do not need to be so primitive and barbaric to people.
“In an attempt to starve and harass me and my family, all
my accounts and wife’s accounts have been frozen.
“Now, they are resorting to arresting people’s wives and
children for no just cause.”
In its reaction, the EFCC denied detaining Fani-Kayode’s
wife and the son.
In a statement by the commission’s spokesman, Mr. Wilson
Uwujaren, on Monday night, the anti-graft agency said the ex-minister’s wife
attempted to withdraw money from an account which the agency had frozen.
The statement read in part, “Contrary to the spin about
the purported arrest of mother and child, a certain Chikwendu Sonia today
attempted to withdraw money from an Access Bank account that had been placed on
‘Post No Debit’ Category, following the discovery of illicit cash flows into
the account.
“She was intercepted by the bank while the commission was
notified, but because it was late, the EFCC advised that the suspect be taken
to the police station for processing and release on bail.
“They were arranging to take the suspect to the police
station when Governor Ayo Fayose stormed the bank with thugs and his personal
security and forcefully secured the release of the suspect, with claims that
the EFCC had no power to detain anybody in his state. He also vowed to close
down the branch of the bank.
“The said account, which had a balance of N2,307,712.82,
was flagged following investigation into the PDP Joint Trust Fund when the
commission traced N1.1bn to the Zenith Bank account of Fani-Kayode.
“It was discovered that the account had two biometric
identification numbers, one for Fani-Kayode and the other (with BVN 2205597283)
for Sonia Chikwendu. The same BVN is linked to two other accounts in Diamond
Bank and 15 accounts in Guaranty Trust Bank.”
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