– The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have incurred the wrath of Nigerian journalists over an alleged raid on the Sun newspaper
– The anti-graft agency has given its reason for carrying out the action while the media organisation has appealed a case it has with the EFCC
The Sun Publishing Limited has taken Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) to the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal for an order to restrain the anti-graft agency or its agents, servants, officers or anybody howsoever from further attempting to seal off its premises pending the hearing and determination of its appeal before the court.
This is as the media organisation accused the EFCC of subjecting its staff to crude harassment in Lagos on Monday, June 12, 2017.
The alleged harassment, according to the newspaper organisation, was because of some stories it published.
Magu’s EFCC said it visited the newspaper organisation for a different reason
Explaining its action carried out in the early hours of Monday, June 12, 2017, the EFCC said it had earlier written to the management of the company to account for its management of the assets for the period of a subsisting court order.
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The EFCC said the visit which lasted for less an hour was part of routine efforts to ascertain the state of the assets of the publishing company which is subject of subsisting interim forfeiture order.
“The commission still awaits the response of the Sun and will not be distracted by any attempt to whip up sentiments by alluding to an appeal which has been pending for ten years.
“The commission’s action is without prejudice to any appeal and only meant to verify the integrity of the assets.
“Contrary to claims in a statement released to the media by the management of the Sun, no staff of the media outfit was molested or intimidated for the few minutes that operatives of the commission spent in the premises of
“The claim that ‘EFCC operatives subjected our staff to crude intimidation, psychological and emotional trauma, even as some of the men accused our organization of publishing pro-Biafra, Boko Haram , and Niger Delta Militant stories’ is strange and clearly the figment of the imagination of the Sun.
“There was no reason to molest anybody as the commission has always related professionally with the publishing outfit. The attempt also to link the visit to the acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu’s threat to sue the organisation over a libelous publication is also diversionary.
“Magu is pursuing that option in his private capacity and his lawyer, Wahab Shittu, did write the Sun and his letter was widely published in the media on March 31, 2017,” the EFCC said.
ZENITHBLOG.com learnt that in a motion on notice filed June 12, 2017, the media house accused the EFCC of resorting to self-help by attempting to enforce an interim forfeiture order, which has been appealed upon.
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The motion from the media organisation seeks for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the respondent ( the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), either by themselves, their agents, officers, servants, privies or anybody howsoever described from enforcing or attempting to enforce, or purporting to enforce, the ex parte interim order of forfeiture made by Justice Anwuri Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja in suit No. FHC/ABJ/M/462/07 made on July 2007 adversely affecting and against the appellant/applicant, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
The EFCC operatives were said to have ordered staff of the Newspaper outfit out while they conducted a search of the company premises.
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