Femi Fani-Kayode has condemned the arrest of his wife by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the former minister, the anti-graft agency detained his wife today, Monday, October 17 when she visited Governor Ayodele Fayose in Ekiti. Fani-Kayode claimed that his wife had gone into a bank to withdraw some money when she and her son were arrested and detained on the order of the EFCC. He said it was the intervention of Fayose that prevented them from being taken away. Fani-Kayode lashed out at President Muhammadu Buhari taking the fight against his wife and family instead of facing him.
Read his statement below:
“This govt is sick and cowardly and so are the EFCC. If you have a problem with me face me and leave my family alone. My wife travelled to Ado Ekiti to see my friend and brother Governor Fayose and his family. They were on their way out of town when they went to Access Bank in Ado Ekiti to get some money. When they got there my 8 month old son Aragorn and wife Precious Chikwendu were illegally detained, brutalised and put under arrest on the orders of the EFCC at a bank in Ado Ekiti today. She has never had any business with me, she has never been formally invited by the EFCC or asked any questions about her transactions and neither have they written to her on any issue even though they are always sending letters to my house and sending people there.
If Buhari wants to deal with me why doesn’t he face me like a man instead of trying to harm and hurt my 8 month old son and wife. Had it not been for the intervention of Governor Ayo Fayose they would have been taken away and subjected them to all manner of harm and indignities simply because she is married to me. This was an account that has 200,000 naira in it and that has never had more than 500,000. She has operated it since 2005 and she stopped using it in 2013. The account has no connection with me and I did not know it existed till today. In an attempt to starve and harass me and my family all my accounts and wife’s accounts have been frozen. Now they are resorting to arresting peoples wives and children for no just cause.
I thank God for Gov. Fayose and the people of Ado Ekiti who stormed the bank and freed my wife from this illegal detention and attempt to kidnap them. Had it not been for the governor’s intervention and presence the bank would have been burnt down by the crowd. My family have since left Ekiti state.
This is Buhari’s Nigeria and we will resist his wickedness and tyranny. We intend to sue the bank and to sue the EFCC for this illegal and wicked action. They have no right to do this. If they want to see my wife all they need to do is to invite her. We have nothing to fear. They do not need to be so primitive and barbaric to people.
And on whose orders would this have been carried out. It sees Nigeria law enforcement/security services are taking things too way above board and beyond sensibility. Such actions would inevitably be linked with current administration, invariable consequences of loss of confidence, credibility and arbitrarily subjective misconduct. When we talk about due process of law and fundamental human rights, this is scenario where all rationality goes down the drain, tantamount to harassment and victimisation. I’m no fan of Femi but this is definitely out-of-order and outside of any legal constitution. In what age are we now living?