Onyekachi Eze 
The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Defence of Democracy, a civil society organisation said the invasion of the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was an assignation attempt on former governor of the state, Yahaya Bello.
The anti-corruption agency had sent its officials to Kogi Governor’s Lodge in Abuja on Wednesday night to effect Bello’s arrest who had been declared wanted by the commission.
But the coalition at a press conference on Thursday by the convener Oluwasegun Emmanuel, expressed surprise that the EFCC could, after hours after the former governor voluntarily submitted himself to the commission for interrogation, “allegedly mobilised unknown faces, to the Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, invaded that significant symbol of authority in the name of searching for a man they had a few hours ago told to go home.
“This act is nothing but an attempt to assassinate the governor and overthrow the constitutionally recognised government of Kogi State.”
The organisation said the invasion was an attempt by the commission to cover up its inefficiency and failure to diligently pursue the anti-corruption agenda.
It alleged that it was a violation of the former governor’s human rights, a rape of civil liberty and a demonstration that the nation’s human rights profile has descended to all time low.
“We are surprised that till this moment, instead of explaining to the entire world why it asked a man they declared wanted, who freely turned himself in to go, the commission that has lost whatever credibility it had in the past has resorted to illegality and extreme violation under the disguise of trying to arrest a citizen,” it added.
The organisation claimed that Bello’s whereabouts were not unknown as nothing had been heard of him after the invasion.
It called for the resignation of the EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede, and the probe of the invasion by the relevant National Assembly committees supervising the institution of the commission.
