On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) expressed regret for the arrest of a former spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe at Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed Airport.
Okupe was stopped and held by agents of the Department of State Security as he left the nation for the United Kingdom to receive medical attention (DSS).
He was eventually turned over to EFCC agents, who later freed him after claiming the arrest was erroneous. Okupe claims that the EFCC “apologized for error” in relation to the DSS arrest.
The former Labour Party presidential campaign spokesperson released a statement regarding his ordeal at the hands of the security and anti-corruption agencies.
Okupe alleged that before finding him guilty of violating the Money Laundering Act, which carries a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, the Federal High Court in Abuja had already seized his passport.
He claims that top EFCC officers in Lagos and Abuja have expressed regret for the error that led to his incarceration. He explained this in a tweet stating his experience.
“I was arrested and detained at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos this morning, January 12, on my way to the UK for medicals, years after my passport was withheld by the FHC, Abuja.
“I just left the EFCC office where the senior and younger officers in Lagos and Abuja apologised to me for the error.”
Earlier, Tolu Babaleye, one of Okupe’s attorneys, posted a reaction on Facebook lamenting his client’s incarceration.
Babaleye said that the DSS had requested him to provide court papers demonstrating that he had made a decision to pay a fine after he was found guilty of money laundering by the Federal High Court of Abuja.
“When will this harassment stop? Who is after Dr Okupe? As of today, the man has no case to answer, I hereby demand that the DSS should release my client immediately as this is a violation of his freedom of movement, right to liberty and dignity as a human person. This is unfair as the man’s health is fast failing,” he wrote.
