Mrs Patricia Etteh’s Arrest: EFCC Must Stop Media Trial Without Substance– ADAPHAI

Reading through the media content about the details of how the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh was detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), one can sefely conclude that the detention was a clear violation of her fundamental human rights and the subsequent media trial without thorough investigation is unacceptable.

This usual pattern of operation of the commission, in which characters of individuals would have been damaged in the media before completing investigation is barbaric and uncivilized and must stop going forward.

In the first instance, the statement by the Commission was quoted saying ” Etteh is not a director in the company or a contractor. But the company paid her N130m.”

Going by the above, while every Nigerian reserves the right to transact with one another within the purview of the extant law, one would find it difficult to believe that an anti-graft agency like EFCC could act on assumption of this nature to detain a public figure without thorough investigation to ascertain the rationale behind the said transaction and its connection with what the Commission is presently investigating before going to press.

Also, by the import of the EFCC’s statement, which indicated that the transaction was carried out in the last eleven years, there was no evidence that Mrs Etteh by the transaction was a direct beneficiary of the purported contract with the NDDC, in which the EFCC predicated it’s investigation and invited her.

Finally, based on this stage of it’s investigation and assumption, the EFCC should have honoured her on the basis of personal recognition instead of detaining her as if there is a concrete evidence leaking her to the alleged fraud committed by Philjin Projects Ltd.

We, therefore, demand for immediate and unconditional release of Mrs Patricia Etteh, on the strength of her innocence and fundamental human rights and advise the EFCC to desist from this style of media trial to save it’s credibility.

For Advocacy for Advancement of Peace & Harmony in Africa Initiative ( ADAPHAI)

Sulaimon Suberu (National Coordinator).