EKITI State governor Ayo Fayose rescued former aviation minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode's wife from detention yesterday after she was detained at a commercial bank in Ado-Ekiti where she went to make a withdrawal.
Mrs Precious Fani-Kayode who was a guest of the governor, had gone to a branch of Access Bank in Ado Ekiti around 3pm when she was detained by officials. Sensing that she was not being promptly attended to, she inquired from officials what the problem was and was told she was being detained on the instructions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Precious, who had her eight-month-old baby with her at the time, was prevented from leaving the banking hall and it took the intervention of Governor Fayose, who arrived around 7pm to secure her release Mrs Fani-Kayode lamented that she was badly treated by the bank officials while her baby was denied food.
“I’m not a politician, that account had been dormant for about five years and I only activated it last month in Port Harcourt. I decided to go to Access Bank to make some withdrawals when I was detained on the instructions of the EFCC.
“They told me the account had been frozen and they were asked by the EFCC to arrest me on the spot but I have been operating the account since 2005 when I was a student in the university. They had earlier frozen my two bank accounts which they have not opened till today and I have been waiting for them to invite me but up till today, they have not," Mrs Fani-Kayode said.
She added that the balance in the account is just N200,000, so she does not know what their interest is. According to Mrs Fani-Kayode, she is a private person who has not received any political funding.
“That account has nothing to do with politics. This is dehumanising, so I had to call the governor to inform him of the development,” she said.
Condemning the action of the EFCC and the attitude of the bank officials, Governor Fayose warned the anti-graft agency against becoming lawless and reckless against Nigerians. He asked the commission to prepare for a stiff resistance if it did not stop persecuting him and his friends.
Governor Fayose added: “They can’t try that nonsense in my state. If they try it, there will be a showdown as they are over-stepping their boundaries.
"This is a country that operates a constitution. What kind of molestation is this, taking away the rights of Nigerians because you are investigating?"
Chief Fani-Kayode added: “This government is sick and cowardly and so is 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 but they were illegally detained, brutalised and put under arrest on the orders of the EFCC at a bank in Ado Ekiti today."
He said he intends to sue the bank and the EFCC for what he describes as this illegal and wicked action. However, the EFCC denied detaining Chief Fani-Kayode’s wife and the son, adding that all that happened was that she attempted to withdraw money from an account which the agency had frozen.
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