KOGI: GOV ODODO VISITS YAHAYA BELLO AMIDST EFCC SIEGE
Amidst a strict security operation on Yahaya Bello’s residence in Abuja, the current governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, paid a visit to the troubled former governor of the state.
At around 2:30 pm on Wednesday, Ododo and a number of security personnel as well as youth supporters showed up at Bello’s house to voice their opposition to the former governor’s house being under siege.
When our correspondent went to the house on Wednesday afternoon, a large number of armed agents from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, police, agents from the Department of State Security, agents from the Counter Terrorism Unit, and members of Yahaya Bello’s private security detail were present.
On Wednesday morning, EFCC operatives stormed Bello’s Abuja home located in Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory.
Photographs seen by our correspondent on Wednesday show some armed EFCC personnel laying siege to the ex-governor’s home on Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.
As of the time of filing this report, our correspondent could not independently confirm the reason behind the siege on Bello’s home, as the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, did not respond to inquiries concerning the development.
However, the EFCC had earlier dragged Yahaya Bello, his nephew Ali, one Dauda Sulaiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in an amended charge in March 2024 over alleged N84bn money laundering.
Reacting to the development, the ex-governor’s media office, in a statement, condemned the operatives’ actions while urging President Bola Tinubu to caution the EFCC.
According to the statement, the presence of the operatives in Bello’s residence negated the order of injunction granted on February 9, 2024, by the High Court of Justice, Lokoja Division, in Suit No. HCL/68M/2024 between Yahaya Bello v. EFCC, restraining the commission either by itself or its agents from harassing, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting him, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive fundamental rights enforcement action.