How EFCC gave free publicity to Innoson

Azuka Onwuka

azonwuka@yahoo.com
0809-8727-263 (sms only)

Last week, the biggest news story in Nigeria was the arrest of
Innocent Chukwuma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s
premier indigenous auto-making company, Innoson Vehicle
Manufacturing Company Limited, Nnewi, Anambra State, by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Reports have it that the EFCC came to his GRA Enugu residence in
large number and arrested him in his shorts and singlet. Innoson
claimed that the EFCC did not inform its boss of the reason for his
arrest. There was also an allegation that even the wife of Chukwuma
was slapped by an EFCC official when she requested to know the
reason for the arrest of her husband.

The EFCC said Chukwuma mobilised his staff to prevent them from
arresting him. A statement signed by the spokesman for the EFCC,
Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, inter alia, said: “His arrest followed his
refusal to honour invitation by the Commission, having earlier
jumped an administrative bail granted him in a case being
investigated by the Capital Market and Insurance Fraud Unit of the
Commission’s Lagos office.

“Chukwuma, rather than honouring invitation by the EFCC,
mobilised six truck loads of thugs pretending to be staff of his
company to his residence, where they manhandled the EFCC
operatives.”

But Innoson countered it by saying that its boss never received
any invitation from the EFCC, neither did he ever jump any bail:
“We wish to deny the EFFC’s claim categorically that Dr. Innocent
Chukwuma (Innoson) was invited by the Commission or was there any
time that he jumped an administrative bail granted by the EFCC.

“Dr. Chukwuma (OFR) is a law-abiding citizen, a public figure
and a well-known industrialist of international repute. There is no
how he would be invited by the EFCC and he would ignore or refuse
to honour the invitation.

“Dr. Chukwuma has never had any issues or query from the EFCC
recently. The last issue he had with the EFCC was an invitation
extended to him in 2012 based on a complaint against him by
Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, which he duly honoured.”

The arrest of Chukwuma elicited spontaneous outpouring of anger
against the EFCC as well as the GTB, which was seen as the company
that engineered the arrest because of its business deal with
Innoson. The anger was why the EFCC should get involved in a
business transaction that had been in court for years and had
received judgements by the two levels of court and was awaiting
final judgement by the Supreme Court. It was seen as an act of
intimidation and a show of power.

The issue was raised on the floor of the Senate the next day by
the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, where it was
extensively discussed in anger. Ekweremadu narrated the story he
was told by the Innoson boss of how he was arrested and added: “Any
person who is arrested and detained should be informed about the
reason for their arrest. As I speak, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma has yet
to be informed of what led to his arrest or detention.”

Senators who spoke on the issue criticised the arrest of
Chukwuma and the manner of the arrest, with Senator Barnabas Gemade
emphasising the issue of “misuse of power and authority” by the
EFCC.

The usual way security agencies in other climes attend to
criminal issues is that they take their time to investigate a case
and gather incriminatory evidences against the suspect. Such
evidences are those that are so water-tight that the suspect will
have no way of wriggling out of the case. Sometimes, it takes
months and even years to conclude investigation. If the evidence
against the suspect is not concrete and sufficient to nail him, an
agent provocateur may be used to set traps for him. Once he is
arrested, it is almost certain that he will be found guilty in
court.

But in the case of the EFCC, the DSS and the police, most times
it is after the suspect is arrested that they start concluding
their investigation and tidying up their case. Consequently, they
usually keep a suspect in detention, even beyond the dictates of
the constitution, while tidying up their case against the
suspect.

With the reputation some security agencies of the government
like the EFCC and the DSS have gained in recent times because of
their mode of arrest of suspects, the arrest of Chukwuma by the
EFCC was seen as being in character with the recent undemocratic
manner of arrest employed by these agencies. It seems the EFCC
derives joy from the dramatic way it arrests accused persons. And
once an accused person is embarrassed by the dramatic and showy way
he is arrested, the EFCC feels that it has achieved a wonderful
result. It does not matter if the person is discharged and
acquitted by the court a few months after, or if the court strikes
out the case for lacking merit.

The manner of arrest of Chukwuma was meant to embarrass him, but
it ended up attracting sympathies to him. The first reason was that
it was seen as a business deal between two companies that went
awry. The issue had gone to two different High Courts which gave
judgement in favour of Innoson. The GTBank appealed the verdicts
and the Appeal Courts ruled in Innoson’s favour. The bank took the
cases to the Supreme Court. The rulings of the Supreme Court on the
two cases are being awaited. That the EFCC was brought into a case
that was in court was seen as strange. The way Chukwuma was
arrested was seen as being in out of tune with democratic
principles.

The second reason was that given that Innoson is a manufacturer
and an employer of labour in the Nigerian economy, which is tough
for manufacturing, such manner of arrest was seen as a
discouragement for investors in the economy. With the death or exit
of many manufacturing companies from Nigeria, people believed that
the few manufacturers that defied all odds to remain in the
national economy should even be pampered by government and agencies
of government.

The third reason was that it made Innoson to be seen as a victim
of high-handedness of the EFCC courtesy of GTBank. In all
situations, the underdog or victim gets the sympathies of the
masses.

Consequently, the incident got the attention of many people who
did not even know about Innoson or those who never took interest in
its business.

Maybe due to the outpouring of anger, the EFCC released Chukwuma
on bail the next day, and he received a hero’s welcome in Enugu. A
few days later, it was announced that the EFCC had filed a
four-count case of forgery against Chukwuma, his brother and
Innoson. The court will determine the case in the months and years
ahead.

Nobody is above the law. The security agencies should do their
work without fear or favour. But what should be paramount in their
minds is not “embarrassing” a person or proving that they are
powerful. The ultimate aim should be to help in making it easier
for the court to find the person found guilty. In a democracy a
human being is assumed innocent until proved otherwise by a court
of law. And every human being deserves respect and courtesy.
Treating a person like a criminal is a trait seen in dictatorships.
It paints a terrible picture of a country that calls itself a
democracy.

–Twitter @BrandAzuka

Azuka Onwuka

azonwuka@yahoo.com
0809-8727-263 (sms only)

Last week, the biggest news story in Nigeria was the arrest of
Innocent Chukwuma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s
premier indigenous auto-making company, Innoson Vehicle
Manufacturing Company Limited, Nnewi, Anambra State, by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Reports have it that the EFCC came to his GRA Enugu residence in
large number and arrested him in his shorts and singlet. Innoson
claimed that the EFCC did not inform its boss of the reason for his
arrest. There was also an allegation that even the wife of Chukwuma
was slapped by an EFCC official when she requested to know the
reason for the arrest of her husband.

The EFCC said Chukwuma mobilised his staff to prevent them from
arresting him. A statement signed by the spokesman for the EFCC,
Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, inter alia, said: “His arrest followed his
refusal to honour invitation by the Commission, having earlier
jumped an administrative bail granted him in a case being
investigated by the Capital Market and Insurance Fraud Unit of the
Commission’s Lagos office.

“Chukwuma, rather than honouring invitation by the EFCC,
mobilised six truck loads of thugs pretending to be staff of his
company to his residence, where they manhandled the EFCC
operatives.”

But Innoson countered it by saying that its boss never received
any invitation from the EFCC, neither did he ever jump any bail:
“We wish to deny the EFFC’s claim categorically that Dr. Innocent
Chukwuma (Innoson) was invited by the Commission or was there any
time that he jumped an administrative bail granted by the EFCC.

“Dr. Chukwuma (OFR) is a law-abiding citizen, a public figure
and a well-known industrialist of international repute. There is no
how he would be invited by the EFCC and he would ignore or refuse
to honour the invitation.

“Dr. Chukwuma has never had any issues or query from the EFCC
recently. The last issue he had with the EFCC was an invitation
extended to him in 2012 based on a complaint against him by
Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, which he duly honoured.”

The arrest of Chukwuma elicited spontaneous outpouring of anger
against the EFCC as well as the GTB, which was seen as the company
that engineered the arrest because of its business deal with
Innoson. The anger was why the EFCC should get involved in a
business transaction that had been in court for years and had
received judgements by the two levels of court and was awaiting
final judgement by the Supreme Court. It was seen as an act of
intimidation and a show of power.

The issue was raised on the floor of the Senate the next day by
the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, where it was
extensively discussed in anger. Ekweremadu narrated the story he
was told by the Innoson boss of how he was arrested and added: “Any
person who is arrested and detained should be informed about the
reason for their arrest. As I speak, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma has yet
to be informed of what led to his arrest or detention.”

Senators who spoke on the issue criticised the arrest of
Chukwuma and the manner of the arrest, with Senator Barnabas Gemade
emphasising the issue of “misuse of power and authority” by the
EFCC.

The usual way security agencies in other climes attend to
criminal issues is that they take their time to investigate a case
and gather incriminatory evidences against the suspect. Such
evidences are those that are so water-tight that the suspect will
have no way of wriggling out of the case. Sometimes, it takes
months and even years to conclude investigation. If the evidence
against the suspect is not concrete and sufficient to nail him, an
agent provocateur may be used to set traps for him. Once he is
arrested, it is almost certain that he will be found guilty in
court.

But in the case of the EFCC, the DSS and the police, most times
it is after the suspect is arrested that they start concluding
their investigation and tidying up their case. Consequently, they
usually keep a suspect in detention, even beyond the dictates of
the constitution, while tidying up their case against the
suspect.

With the reputation some security agencies of the government
like the EFCC and the DSS have gained in recent times because of
their mode of arrest of suspects, the arrest of Chukwuma by the
EFCC was seen as being in character with the recent undemocratic
manner of arrest employed by these agencies. It seems the EFCC
derives joy from the dramatic way it arrests accused persons. And
once an accused person is embarrassed by the dramatic and showy way
he is arrested, the EFCC feels that it has achieved a wonderful
result. It does not matter if the person is discharged and
acquitted by the court a few months after, or if the court strikes
out the case for lacking merit.

The manner of arrest of Chukwuma was meant to embarrass him, but
it ended up attracting sympathies to him. The first reason was that
it was seen as a business deal between two companies that went
awry. The issue had gone to two different High Courts which gave
judgement in favour of Innoson. The GTBank appealed the verdicts
and the Appeal Courts ruled in Innoson’s favour. The bank took the
cases to the Supreme Court. The rulings of the Supreme Court on the
two cases are being awaited. That the EFCC was brought into a case
that was in court was seen as strange. The way Chukwuma was
arrested was seen as being in out of tune with democratic
principles.

The second reason was that given that Innoson is a manufacturer
and an employer of labour in the Nigerian economy, which is tough
for manufacturing, such manner of arrest was seen as a
discouragement for investors in the economy. With the death or exit
of many manufacturing companies from Nigeria, people believed that
the few manufacturers that defied all odds to remain in the
national economy should even be pampered by government and agencies
of government.

The third reason was that it made Innoson to be seen as a victim
of high-handedness of the EFCC courtesy of GTBank. In all
situations, the underdog or victim gets the sympathies of the
masses.

Consequently, the incident got the attention of many people who
did not even know about Innoson or those who never took interest in
its business.

Maybe due to the outpouring of anger, the EFCC released Chukwuma
on bail the next day, and he received a hero’s welcome in Enugu. A
few days later, it was announced that the EFCC had filed a
four-count case of forgery against Chukwuma, his brother and
Innoson. The court will determine the case in the months and years
ahead.

Nobody is above the law. The security agencies should do their
work without fear or favour. But what should be paramount in their
minds is not “embarrassing” a person or proving that they are
powerful. The ultimate aim should be to help in making it easier
for the court to find the person found guilty. In a democracy a
human being is assumed innocent until proved otherwise by a court
of law. And every human being deserves respect and courtesy.
Treating a person like a criminal is a trait seen in dictatorships.
It paints a terrible picture of a country that calls itself a
democracy.

–Twitter @BrandAzuka