EFCC siege: Abuja, Kogi courts issue counter orders over Yahaya Bello

April 17

18:46 2024

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A federal high court in Abuja has issued an arrest warrant against Yahaya Bello, a former governor of Kogi state.

Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, granted the arrest warrant to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday.

However, in a dramatic twist, a Kogi high court presided over by I. A Jamil has restrained the anti-graft agency from arresting the former governor.

In suit no HCL/68/M/2020, the court restrained the EFCC from “arresting, detaining and prosecuting the applicant except as authorised by the court”.

The judge said the ruling is a “definite order following the earlier interim injunction”.

The judgment followed the suit brought before the court by the former governor seeking to enforce his fundamental rights against the EFCC.

The court equally also restrained the anti-graft agency from continuing to persecute Bello.

Earlier in the judgment, the court dismissed the issue of jurisdiction as challenged by the EFCC.

S.A Abbas and M.S Yusuf, counsel to Bello, described the judgment as a landmark while T.U Odima and Patrick O. Jibril, lawyers to the EFCC, also aligned themselves to the ruling, describing it as thorough.

‘THE ARREST WARRANT’

The arrest warrant issued by the federal high court was at the instance of the EFCC seeking to apprehend the former governor ahead of his scheduled arraignment on Thursday.

The operatives of the EFCC had laid siege on the Abuja residence of Bello on Wednesday morning.

They restricted movement in and around the house situated on Benghazi street, Wuse Zone 4.

The development comes about a month after the EFCC named Bello in an amended money laundering charge filed against Alli Bello, chief of staff to Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi.

Ali, and one Daudu Suleiman, are the two defendants in the 17-count amended charge. The EFCC alleged that the suspects diverted about N100 billion belonging to the Kogi government.

However, in responding to the EFCC charge, the Kogi government said funds belonging to the state were not missing during the administration of the former governor.