Posted by From Julius Alabi, Akure on
OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday raided the house of the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Kayode Bamisile, located in Akure, Ondo State over some documents relating to an alleged financial scam in the Ekiti judiciary.
OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday raided the house of the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Kayode Bamisile, located in Akure, Ondo State over some documents relating to an alleged financial scam in the Ekiti judiciary.
The operatives, who came in two buses, also visited Top Quality Hotel and Top Quality Shopping complex belonging to the wife of the chief judge, Remi.
The invasion of Bamisile's house might not be unconnected with a petition by an Akure-based legal practitioner, Mr. Morakinyo Ogele, alleging financial malpractices in the Ekiti State Judiciary.
The men of the EFCC that are investigating the alleged scam have been in Ado-Ekiti since Monday trying to gather more information on the issue.
The Guardian gathered that the presence of the operatives had scared residents, who were seen running helter-shelter apparently unsure of their personal safety.
It was learnt that some residents, afraid that they might be arrested, had scaled the fence of their houses.
Narrating her ordeal to journalists yesterday, Mrs. Bamisile explained that the agency's operatives, numbering about nine, including a mobile policeman, arrived at her hotel at Alagbaka quarters, Akure, demanding to search her house for some documents relating to her husband's working place at Ado-Ekiti.
According to her, the EFCC agents, who came in two white buses, inquired if she was the wife of the Ekiti State Chief Judge and she responded in the affirmative. But when she wanted the men to identify themselves, they ignored her, she added.
Mrs. Bamisile said she could identify only one of them, an Akure-based lawyer, Ogele, who led the EFCC officials. She said that the officials came with a video recorder to record everything that was found in the hotel premises.
"I want to say categorically that two of my workers were rough-handled by the anti-graft commission's officials when they were trying to ascertain the mission of the people at the hotel," she said.
Mrs. Bamisile, whose husband was not around during the EFCC's invasion, said the operatives also visited their house and attempted forcefully to gain entry into the building.
She noted that the people tried to destroy the gate of the building in order to gain entry but were prevailed upon by neighbours and passersby, who were attracted to the scene to see what was happening.
According to her, the men later asked her to follow them to their office in Lagos but she refused, claiming that she was not a public officer.
Mrs. Bamisile, however, claimed that the EFCC officials tortured her mentally, adding that she might take a legal action.
"I have consulted my solicitor because the action of the operatives was highly embarrassing. They did not tell me my offence and I am not a public servant. I am a businesswoman, so why did they have to invade my privacy without any decorum.
"They did not ask me any question, they only came here to harass us and my husband was not around. They later asked me to go to Lagos with them but I told them that I don't have any business with them," she said.
She appealed to the Federal Government to recruit "more responsible people into the commission to ensure that the war against corruption is meaningful."