Alleged organ harvest: EFCC behind my travails – Ekweremadu

Embattled former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu told Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was to blame for his troubles at the London Court, where he had been detained over alleged organ harvesting.

The Senator, who has been detained in London for an alleged organ harvest, informed the Federal High Court that the EFCC issued a letter to the London Court, which caused the foreign court to deny to allow him to bail.

Ekweremadu’s accusations were contained in an application he filed before a Nigerian court seeking an order of the court to set aside an interim order made in favor of the Federal Government for confiscation of his 40 properties in the country and abroad.InformationGuideNigeria

In his plea, the ex-Deputy Senate President’s counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), contended that the forfeiture judgment was awarded to the Federal Government in error because the EFCC withheld information and facts about the assets.

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Specifically, the jailed Senator claimed that the EFCC illegally secured the forfeiture judgment for the government by concealing the fact that the inquiry into the 40 properties began in 2008.

Among other things, he claimed that the EFCC was well aware that he was in jail in London when the motion for seizure of the properties was submitted and debated.

He claimed that the anti-corruption agency purposefully omitted to inform the court that he was being held in London and would be unable to fight the forfeiture request.

As a result, Ekweremadu petitioned the court to vacate the forfeiture decision and suspend proceedings in the case until he resolved his ordeal before the London Court.

However, the EFCC’s counsel, Silvanus Tahir (SAN), denied that the commission was behind Ekweremadu’s suffering.NYSC Portal 

While admitting that the EFCC wrote the London Court on a particular request, he stated that it was standard procedure for anti-corruption authorities to exchange material that might be useful to one another.

Tahir did not object to the motion for a stay of proceedings until Ekweremadu fully resolved his dispute before the London Court, but vigorously opposed the request to set aside the forfeiture order.

After hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Ekwo set January 25 as the date for a decision in the case.

On Friday, November 4, the Court ordered the interim seizure of 40 landed properties associated to Ekweremadu in various areas of the country and abroad.JAMB Portal

The order was given by Justice Ekwo in response to an ex-parte motion filed and submitted by Ibrahim Buba, the EFCC’s lawyer.

The Judge, who granted the request, ordered the EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order of the property in a national daily within seven days.

He had directed anyone with an interest in the forfeited property to explain why the property should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government within 14 days of the publication of the interim forfeiture order.

The impacted properties comprised ten in Enugu, three in the United States of America, two in the United Kingdom, one in Lagos, nine in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and 15 in the Federal Capital Territory.

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