The custody of EFCC while Farida Waziri was at
the of affairs turned to a baby making factory when one of the officials
of the commission (name withheld) allegedly impregnated a detainee and
covered it up from the glare of the public.
In a petition written to the Attorney-General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke by one Eprahim Emeka Ugwuonye of
310 Watkins Pond Boulevard, Rockville MD, dated November 16 2011,
disclosed that a woman was arrested sometime in July 2009 by operatives
of EFCC and detained at the Okotie-Eboh, Lagos office of the agency.
The petitioner stated that while she was in detention, the official
of the agency was having carnal knowledge of the woman and by the end
of November of that year, she was pregnant and informed the authority
about the shameful attitude of the official.
But no punitive measure was taken against the EFCC official.
Instead, to cover the shame that it was going to bring to the agency,
the woman was charged to court and was made to be remanded at the
Kirikiri Prisons. Excerpts of the petition are reproduced hereunder:
Petiton from Ephraim
Emeka Ugwuonye, Esq. 310 Watkins Pond Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, November 16, 2011.
TO
Mohammed Adoke, SAN, The Honorable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
Federal Republic of Nigeria, Central Business District, Abuja
.
Petition against Mrs. Farida Waziri and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC): The Dark Secrets of the EFCC.
Dear Attorney-General,
I hereby bring to your attention a crime, and cover up committed
by the officials of the EFCC with the active connivance of the Chairman
of the EFCC, and I request that the incident, and series of events
surrounding it be investigated by your office.
There was a woman who was arrested by the EFCC around July 2009,
and was detained at the Okotie-Eboh detention facility. While in
detention in the custody of the EFCC, the woman was impregnated by an
official of the EFCC. By the end of November and early December of 2009,
the lady reported the incident to the officials of the EFCC.
She disclosed the identity of the operative responsible for the
pregnancy. She revealed also the details of how she got pregnant.
According to her revelations, the EFCC official would come to the cell
each night and would take her to the EFCC offices where he would have
unprotected sex with her against her consent.
After about two months of this pattern of activity, the lady got
pregnant while still in custody. EFCC conducted test on her and
determined that she was indeed pregnant and that she got pregnant while
in its custody.
To cover up this incident, the EFCC quickly filed a charge
against the woman and arraigned her in court. During arraignment, the
EFCC lawyers on instruction from the EFCC leadership requested that the
lady be remanded in Kirikiri instead of continuing to be remanded in the
EFCC cell.
Once the woman was remanded at Kirikiri, the EFCC successfully
covered up the incident. The officer involved is still working in the
EFCC. No disciplinary action was taken against the officer. The officer
in question is known.
He has injury on one eye and wears glasses. The reason Mrs.
Waziri and her top officers chose to cover up the incident was because
they felt it would attract adverse publicity to the EFCC under her
watch. She would rather continue with the false and well massaged image
of a well-run and well-functioning organization.
Dear Sir, the issues involved in the case of this woman are of
fundamental significance for your duties as the chief law officer of
this country. It is your duty to ensure that all agencies of Government
comply with the law and constitution. And where there is credible or
investigatable theory
of crime or a credible complaint of a systemic violation of the constitution or an official cover-up, you have the duty to act.
In this instance, even though I am not able to provide you yet
the name of either the detainee in question or the particular EFCC
officer involved, you do have sufficient information to request a
reaction from the EFCC. Such information, now at your disposal will
enable you to ask the
following questions:
1] Looking at the list of EFCC detainees between July and
December of 2009, was there an inmate that got pregnant in custody? The
mere fact that a detainee got pregnant while in custody is enough to
trigger an investigation.
2] There is an EFCC detective with bad eye, and who wears
glasses. He worked in, or had continued access to the Okotie-Eboh cell
between July and December of 2009.
3] There was a pregnant detainee who spent five months in
detention at Okotie-Eboh cell, who got charged in December 2009, and was
remanded in Kirikiri prison after it was known that she was pregnant.
4] Please, ask for the list of detainees who tested positive for pregnancy during the time they were in the custody of the EFCC.
The Honourable Attorney-General, I understand that this petition
raises grave issues, and should have been disclosed with specificity
the identities of the victim and the officer that perpetrated
the crime of rape. But this incident involves a massive cover-up by the
EFCC. In that
situation, it is through hard work and diligent effort that so
much information as I have disclosed herein could be possible. It will
require an officer in your position to conduct the kind of inquiries
that could bring out the facts that have been so carefully suppressed by
the EFCC officials.
The significance of the incident in question must not be lost
upon your office. As is well known in law enforcement circles, cover-up
and obstruction of justice are worse than the substantive violation of the law.
If the EFCC covered up a case in which its officer raped and
impregnated a detainee in the custody of EFCC, there ought to be an
investigation and appropriate measures or prosecution.
I realize that your office has made several efforts to regulate
the activities of the EFCC. Your testimonies during your confirmation
hearing by the Senate eloquently explained the frustration you
have suffered in your dealings with EFCC under the leadership of Mrs.
Waziri. However the situation may be, you remain the Attorney-General of
Nigeria. You have certain duties and responsibilities that go with your
office. Do not sweep this petition under the carpet.
Thank you kindly.
Sincerely yours."
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