Posted by By Sun News Publishing on
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives on Tuesday invaded the head offices of Globacom and Equitorial Trust Bank, breaking doors and disrupting activities of the companies for about three hours.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives on Tuesday invaded the head offices of Globacom and Equitorial Trust Bank, breaking doors and disrupting activities of the companies for about three hours.
Also, the EFCC team on Wednesday stormed Conoil, ransacked offices and picked up the Company Secretary, Obioro Meme and Legal Officer, simply identified as Adewunmi. They were later released after making written statements.
All the other officials of the Globacom and Equitorial Trust Bank have similarly been released after statements were obtained from them at the EFCC Awolowo Road, Lagos office.
Daily Sun learnt that the operatives, numbering about 20, arrived the Mike Adenuga Towers head office of Globacom at about 4.30pm on Tuesday and headed straight for the Legal Department on the 4th floor and demanded to see Mrs Gladys Talabi, Globacom's Executive Director, Legal.
According to sources, when the EFCC operatives were told that Talabi was unavailable, they threatened to break the door to her office, if she was not produced.
It was further gathered that the EFCC agents later gained entry into the office by tearing it into pieces from the mid section with a fork-like gadget.
The EFCC team was said to have ransacked the office and carried away computers and other documents. While the raid lasted, people were prevented from leaving or entering the premises.
It was gathered that while the Globacom operation was on-going, another EFCC team was breaking into ETB's Company Secretary's office. The team, which arrived the office located off Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos by 5.00 pm after earlier storming the ETB Corporate head office on Adeola Odeku, took with it, the bank's Director of Legal Services.
About 70 EFCC operatives had stormed the Lagos home of Adenuga to effect his arrest in a commando fashion just about a month ago.
He was released barely 24 hours later. The commission then issued a statement saying nothing incriminating was found against Adenuga. His travails had been linked to the political rift between President Olusegun Obasanjo and his vice, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and ex-military President, Ibrahim Babangida.
There are, however fears that the continuous harassment of Adenuga may be counter-productive to Nigeria's quest under the Obasanjo regime to attract investors.
"No foreign investor will come into this kind of clime where the EFCC invades companies without respecting the fundamental rights of individuals or organisations in question," said an investment banker.
With about 10,000 Nigerians on its pay roll, the Mike Adenuga Group is one of the largest employers of labour in Nigeria with substantial investment in oil, banking, aviation, real estate and telecommunication.
Adenuga is also regarded as a quiet investor who believes fervently in the greatness of the country and is willing to invest his resources in making the country greater.