EFCC Authorized By The Court To Detain Former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello

Yahaya Bello

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been given permission by the Federal High Court in Abuja to detain former governor of Kogi state Yahaya Bello, in anticipation of his trial on Thursday, April 18.

On Wednesday, April 17, Justice Emeka Nwite reportedly issued the warrant at the EFCC's request.

This development follows an earlier decision made by a Kogi state High Court in Lokoja, which barred the EFCC from violating former governor Yahaya Bello's fundamental human rights.

Remember that on Wednesday, as seen in an image shared online, armed EFCC agents surrounded the Yahaya apartment on Benghazi Street in Wuse Zone 4.

In March, Yahaya Bello, his nephew Ali, Dauda Sulaiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu were charged by the EFCC with money laundering of N84 billion, which was brought before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The former governor's media assistant responded to the siege by releasing a statement in which she denounced the activities of the EFCC and urged President Bola Tinubu to step in and warn the organization.

The statement stressed that a court order issued on February 9 by the High Court of Justice, Lokoja Division, prohibiting the EFCC and its agents from harassing, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting Bello while a substantive fundamental rights enforcement action is being decided, was broken by the siege on Bello's home.

As these things were going on, Usman Ododo, the current governor of Kogi State, paid a visit to former governor Yahaya Bello in the midst of increased security surrounding Bello's Abuja home.

Many security personnels and young supporters who were protesting the siege on the former governor's house accompanied Ododo when he arrived at Bello's place.