EFCC denies assaulting Oyo lawyers protesting colleague’s detention

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has denied assaulting lawyers who were protesting the detention of their colleague at the EFCC office in Ibadan, Oyo State.

PUNCH Online gathered that the lawyer, Philip Ojo, was released later in the day after members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan branch, stormed the EFCC office at GRA, Ibadan, to protest his detention.

Details of why Ojo was detained were still sketchy as of press time but it was learnt that the matter had to do with a fundamental human rights suit filed against a yet-to-be-identified official of the EFCC.

In a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Thursday, one of the protesting lawyers, Adedeji Falujo, said the officer who was being sued, alleged that there were untrue facts contained in the suit, and asked both Ojo and the bailiff to write a statement concerning the alleged falsified information in the suit.

According to him, Ojo refused to write the statement and was detained.

He added that Ojo was released after the leadership of the EFCC zonal command in Ibadan directed that the issue be resolved.

He said, “We were resilient that we were going to get to the gate of the EFCC, and we eventually did. While we were at their gate peacefully, and chanting in solidarity (songs), they teargassed us, and nobody left the gate until the authorities of the EFCC Ibadan directed that the issue be resolved.

“The leaders of the bar, the chairman and other executives went inside to address the issues. The zonal director also came down with some of their officials to apologise and further address the issues. As I speak to you, he has been released and other demands met. We marched back to the NBA centre and he (Ojo) also marched with us.”

In a statement, the Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan branch, Ibrahim Lawal, also decried the “illegal and unlawful” detention of Ojo.

Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, condemned the action of the EFCC officials.

“The recklessness of the EFCC targeted at lawyers, particularly the younger ones, is no longer tolerable. All those fingered in this naked abuse of the lawyer must be appropriately sanctioned. With that, we can be confident the entire leadership of the EFCC, headed by Mr Ola Olukoyede, himself a lawyer, is not in support of this strategic attack on lawyers merely doing their jobs,” Ogun told PUNCH Online in a telephone interview.

When contacted, the head of the Public Affairs Department of the EFCC, Ibadan Zonal Command, Olumide Egbodofo, confirmed the release of the lawyer.

“The lawyer in question has been released,” he said.

He, however, disclosed to our correspondent that claims of lawyers being assaulted and teargassed were false.

“That’s false. What they (EFCC officials) did was to safeguard and ensure there was no breakdown of law and order. Nobody was harassed. We were calming them down, they were almost fighting us. We were just managing the situation professionally. There wasn’t anything like that,” he told our correspondent.