The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had stormed the Abuja residence of the former Governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha in the early hours of Tues the 24th of May 2022 in an attempt to arrest and detain him.
It is no news that the APC Presidential aspirant has been under the radar of the anti-graft commission over allegations of fraud to the tune of N2.9BN.
EFCC alleged that Okorocha who piloted affairs of Imo state from 2011 to 2019, conspired and diverted public funds to the tune of about N2.9 billion.
According to the anti-graft agency, the Defendants committed the alleged offense between October 2014 and February 2016.
He has also been accused of corruption by his incumbent Gov Hope Uzodinma who confiscated most of his properties domiciled in Imo state.
What must have warranted the sudden action of the EFCC? According to sources, there has not been a warrant of arrest issued by a Nigerian court to facilitate the arrest, nor has the EFCC made an official statement on the matter.
The anti-graft agency in February 2022 obtained an interim forfeiture order for the purposes of confiscating the former governor’s assets in Abuja.
Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s spokesperson, had said the property located in the Garki area of Abuja is “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities” of Mr. Okorocha.
He gave the full address of the property as Plot 1032 & 1033 Cadastral Zone AO3, Takum Close, Off Michika Street, Ahmadu Bello Way, Garki, Abuja.
The interim forfeiture order came just some days after the EFCC lamented its inability to serve the ex-governor with the corruption charges it recently filed against him.
Could it be a form of intimidation? We have seen EFCC and the DSS in the past in such self-styled operations. A case that has to do with JUSTICE Mary Odili whose residence was invaded buy men suspected to be from the DSS or Rivers State Governor, Mr Nyesom Wike, who rescued the former acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission, Joy Nunieh, from a siege laid to her house in Port Harcourt by policemen.
According to reports, the former Governor is in a bunker at his Abuja residence surrounded by EFCC officials who in desperation hope to arrest the APC Presidential aspirant.
