FORMER aviation minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has revealed that he was protected by Boko Haram suspects during his four-day detention at Kuje Prison where he was being detained over corruption allegations.
A close ally of former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Fani-Kayode was arrested over his role in the Dasukigate scandal in which $2.1bn meant to supply military hardware was diverted into private pockets. Among other things, it is alleged that a sum of N840m was paid into Chief Fani-Kayode's account at Zenith Bank as the director of publicity of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation on February 19, 2015, to fund the election.
Arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chief Fani-Kayode was then transferred to Kuje Prison where he was kept in a cell along with jailed terrorists. He said he spent over two weeks in the EFCC's underground cell without being interrogated.
Chief Fani-Kayode said: “At Kuje, I was kept in the terrorist wing of the prison which was built by the British government specifically for convicts and suspects. There were 47 of them in the facility and I was with them throughout.
"These were tough, disciplined, hardened, surprisingly well-educated and intimidating men. This was a frightful place and those that were locked up there were very dangerous and frightful people yet thankfully the Lord went ahead of me."
He added that during his time at the prison, he also met with the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob), Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention for over a year. Chief Fani-Kayode said they spoke for about three hours and they were protected by inmates during the meeting.
“The single cells, though small, were clean, well-ventilated, dry and very neat. The inmates were surprisingly very kind and friendly towards me and turned out to be my best friends and bodyguards whenever I toured the other parts of the prison.
“Most of those men were not Boko Haram killers but had been falsely accused, tortured and just dumped into prison and I felt nothing but pain and sorrow when I heard their stories. When I went to visit the great and brilliant freedom fighter, Nnamdi Kanu, who is the leader of Ipob and easily the most courageous, powerful and credible Igbo leader in Nigeria today in his cell, we had a very instructive and long discussion," Chief Fani-Kayode added.
He pointed out that he had never met Nnamdi Kanu before and was amazed at his depth of knowledge, immense courage and deep convictions. According to Chief Fani-Kayode, there is no doubt that that man is going places and in him the Igbo have an Ojukwu and a Nnamdi Azikiwe all rolled into one.
According to Chief Fani-Kayode, Mr Kanu is destined for greatness. He added that his Boko Haram friends accompanied him to that meeting, drew a 10-man security cordon around him when they entered the general area of the prison and waited outside as he and Mr Kanu spoke for almost three hours.
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