- * Why He Was Arrested ...Spokesman
- EFCC Doing Its Job, I will Cooperate, Says Okorocha
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CeleOkaf11
The Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Senator Rochas Anayo Okorocha, was on Tuesday evening, picked up by Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Okorocha, according to information available to NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER, was promptly arrested in his "Unity House" private office on Nkwerre Street, Area 11, Garki, Abuja, at about 4 pm, shortly after his return from a trip outside Abuja.
The EFCC officials were said to have carefully laid siege to the former Imo State governor and 2023 Presidential hopeful in his office and Okorocha allegedly walked into their trap. His arrest has been confirmed by the authorities of the EFCC through the Anti-Corruption agency's spokesman, Wilson Uwugiaren.
Reasons for the arrest and interrogation of Rochas Okorocha were yet to be officially made known by the EFCC. But available unconfirmed information says that the agency had extended several invitations to Okorocha in the past but he allegedly refused to honor the invitations.
For instance, Senator Okorocha was said to have been invited by the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Nasiru Mohammed, in mid-February for an explanation based on his alleged forceful entry into a controversial Housing Estate located in Owerri, Imo State capital and which the government of his successor, governor Hope Uzodimma, had seized pending the determination of the circumstances of its ownership.
The Imo State Government, in the early week of March this year, and through the Imo State Housing Corporation, revoked 50 plots of land allegedly belonging to Okorocha’s elder sister, Mrs. Geraldine Obinali.
A government white paper on the report of an investigative committee set up by the deposed administration of Hon Emeka Ihedioha which had allegedly indicted Rochas Okorocha and his government recommended that the contentious properties be returned to the Imo State government which, according to the probe panel, actually owned the contentious Estate properties in Owerri.
But the alleged attempts by Senator Okorocha and his men to gain entry into the property which the Imo State government described as illegal action and a case of trespass, sparked off a violent conflict between the aides and alleged thugs belonging to both governor Uzodimma and Senator Okorocha's factions.
There were spirited efforts by both the National Assembly and the Presidency to intervene to mediate in the ensuing protracted political face-off between the two Imo politicians and chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
Meanwhile, Rochas Okorocha has reacted officially to his arrest by the EFCC, explaining that the alleged reasons for his arrest have been subjecting to court intervention and which, according to him, the EFCC had investigated.
Okorocha's reaction was contained in a statement by his Media Adviser, Sam Onwuemeodo, on late night of Tuesday, shortly after the arrest of the former governor. Okorocha's reaction reads thus:
"We have been inundated with calls by Media Houses and Concerned Nigerians and beyond, trying to Confirm the reported invitation of Senator Rochas Okorocha by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, later today, being April 13, 2021,
"The truth is that Okorocha left as the governor of Imo State on May 28, 2019. And shortly after his exit as governor, Imo State Government wrote Petitions upon Petitions against him.
"The EFCC investigated the petitions and has been in various Courts of the land with Okorocha, to that effect.
"And if the EFCC has decided to invite Okorocha for Clarifications on the matters already in Courts, especially with a new Chairman at the helm of affairs at the Commission, there is nothing wrong with that.
"The matters between EFCC and Okorocha over his governorship in Imo, have been pending in various courts of the land.
"At the end of the day, we would know whether the Commission will be withdrawing the Cases in Courts, or would Continue with the Cases already in Courts.
"But to us, the Commission is doing its job and should be given the needed cooperation. And Okorocha being a law-abiding Citizen, would always cooperate with the Commission over the Matters in Courts. EFCC is not a slaughterhouse, but a very responsible institution and should be seen as such.
"We have no reason to complain about the invitation of today (Tuesday), which Okorocha honored as a patriotic and responsible Nigerian.
"As we stated earlier, the Commission didn’t invite Okorocha today, for the first time". NNL.
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