The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, gave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 24 hours to release socialite and businesswoman Aisha Achimugu.
The judge, Inyang Ekwo, issued the order in a short ruling, after the EFCC produced Ms Achimugu in court on Wednesday.
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PREMIUM TIMES reported that Ms Achimugu, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Felak Concept Group, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja upon her arrival from London at about 5 a.m. on Tuesday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ms Achimugu arrived the court in company with two female EFCC operatives at about 11.35 a.m. on Wednesday.
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The case for hearing was a fundamental human rights enforcement suit she instituted earlier in the month to block EFCC and other law enforcement agencies from arresting her following her being declared wanted last month.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the judge, Inyang Ekwo, ordered EFCC to release Ms Achimugu within 24 hours.
The judge also ordered the agency to report compliance with the order in court on 2 May
The EFCC had declared Ms Achimugu wanted in a 28 March public notice over her alleged involvement in criminal conspiracy, money laundering, corruption, and possession of unlawfully acquired property, in connection with the controversial MBA Trading and Capital Limited scheme.
On 3 April, she filed a fundamental human rights enforcement suit to restrain the EFCC and other agencies sued as co-defendants from arresting or detaining her.
Other agencies she sued alongside EFCC are the Nigeria Police Force, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
At a hearing on Monday, the judge ordered Ms Achimugu to surrender herself to the EFCC for interrogation on Tuesday.
The judge gave the order after her lawyers informed hm that their client was willing to honour EFCC’s invitation on Tuesday.
Mr Ekwo then asked the EFCC to hold her in custody and appear with her in court on Wednesday.
Ms Achimugu’s legal team fumed over her arrest on Tuesday.
A senior lawyer in her legal team, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who described her as a prisoner of conscience in a statement, said the arrest was unnecessary as she already gave commitment to the court that she was going to honour EFCC’s invitation on Tuesday.
He noted that she arrived voluntarily from London to honour the anti-graft agency’s invitation.
”In the light of what transpired in court on Monday, our client returned based on the undertaking before the court to honor the EFCC’s invitation, but was arrested at the airport.
”She has immediately gone on a hunger strike. She is a prisoner of conscience and our stand in the arrest is that it has run contrary to the rule of law,” he said.
EFCC’s case against Achimugu
The EFCC shared details of its case against Ms Achimugu in a court filing.
It said in an affidavit filed in response to an application instituted by Ms Achimugu that on 12 February 2024 the socialite visited its office with her lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, and wrote a statement.
The commission said in the statement, she explained some of the huge funds which passed through her corporate bank accounts.
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It said that Mrs Achimugu admitted that the sum of N8.71 billion was paid by her partners as investment fund into purchase and payment of signature bonus for the acquisition of an oil bloc on 8 November 2022.
It said further investigation however revealed that Mrs Achimugu, through her company, Ocean Gate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, acquired two oil blocs, namely Shallow Water -PPL 3007 and Deep Offshore-PPL 302-DO for the total sum of $25, 300, 000 (twenty-five million, three hundred thousand dollars) through majorly cash payments made to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators who in turn made payments to the Federal Government via corporate accounts.
The commission alleged that the ultimate sources of the said sum of $25.3 million used in the acquisition of the oil blocs were not linked to her lawful earning or income or any business partner.
“That the acquisition of the oil blocks was marred by corrupt practices as bribes were paid to the officials of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in the process.
“That none of the Oil Blocks assigned/allocated to Ocean Gate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Commission has commenced exploration/production from inception to date,” the EFCC said.
The anti-graft agency averred that following the decision of the court in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/451/2024 which dismissed Mrs Achimugu’s suit, the commission, in continuation of its investigation, sent letters to some agencies of government, including FIRS, CBN, etc.
It said further investigation revealed that Mrs Achimugu operates a total of 136 bank accounts across ten different banks both in her personal and corporate names.
(NAN)
