The Reason Why I Had To Stand Surety For Dr Ngozi Onejeme—Immediate Past NBA 2nd VP, Monday Ubani | Nairalaw

The FCT
High Court, Apo, on Tuesday ordered the Economic and Financial
Crime Commission (EFCC)^[1] to either
charge the immediate past 2nd Vice President of the Nigerian Bar
Association Ubani Monday to court or release him on bail.

Ubani has being in the custody of the EFCC since last week
Tuesday for standing in as a surety to Ngozi Olejeme, who once
served as the Chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund
from 2009 to 2015.

Below the former 2nd Vice President of NBA narrates why
he stood for Ngozi as a surety.

Towards the end of last year, a colleague of mine based in Abuja
called and briefed me of an Efcc matter involving his client who is
based in South Africa. He informed me that the client will want me
to handle the matter for her as suggested by him. He told me that
Efcc had already declared her wanted even though his client says
that she is innocent of the allegations.

I told him that I will be interested in hearing from the
potential client directly as I do not work on hearsay evidence and
he promised to do just that. The woman eventually called that night
and we exchanged pleasantries. She sounded very friendly and lively
on phone. After the greetings, she delved into the story of her
travail with the Efcc. She alleged that certain officials who
worked with her in NSITF ganged up when they were arrested for
stealing the funds of the agency to implicate her falsely thinking
that she will not come back to Nigeria due to her medical issues.
She told me of her desire and intention to come back to Nigeria to
clear her name but the only snag is that due to her complicated
medical history and treatment she would not want to be detained by
the Efcc when she comes back as her medical condition demands
constant use of injection and drugs.

I told her that it is better for her to come and clear her name
of any allegation as her refusal will not argur well for her
reputation and for her freedom even while abroad. I requested her
to send to me her medical reports from hospitals abroad which I
intend to use to seek the understanding of Efcc not to detain her
when she comes back for her charges. She sent those reports and I
made a letter to Efcc detailing her medical history and condition
which had made her coming back before that time impossible. In my
subsequent letter to Efcc I was able to communicate the date she
will come back to Nigeria to respond to the allegations of
corruption at NSITF where she was the Board Chairman.

As agreed, she came back on the date we communicated and the
following day I took her to Efcc to respond to the allegations.
We were there by 10am prompt but we did not start until 12 noon as
the Efcc officials were obviously not expecting her coming back so
suddenly as they had to run helther skelther to locate her file and
commence the interrogation.

The interrogation lasted for about 8 hours after which they gave
us bail conditions which we promptly complied with, but
unfortunately we were informed by the Investigating Officer that Dr
Olejeme will not go home that day but has to be detained in a
hospital in Abuja. We were not only surprised but were shocked as
we have fulfilled all the conditions of bail. As we have no choice
my client was detained in a private hospital in Abuja with Efcc
officials guarding her. Even though in a hospital, she was
complaining constantly that she is not feeling well and that the
presence of Efcc officials affects her psychologically, worsening
her recovery process.

At her instance we filed for the enforcement of her fundamental
human rights at the Federal Capital Territory High court, Abuja.
The Efcc counsel replied us stating that they have a court order to
detain her for 14 days pending investigation, however at the date
fixed for the hearing of the application, the court did not sit.
The Efcc magnanimously decided not to renew the detention order but
rather chose to release her on bail but with a condition that those
level 15 and 14 officers in the public service will not be
acceptable to the Chairman of Efcc. No specific reason or reasons
were given for the rejection but the Investigating Officer informed
us that the Acting Chairman of Efcc said he will allow me, Mr Ubani
and one other person to take Dr Olejeme on bail.

I weighed the condition and came to the conclusion that since
the woman willingly submitted herself to Efcc from South Africa and
has many movable assets coupled with the fact that she is bringing
her family back to Nigeria, it will be unjust for me to reject to
stand surety for her since I was privy to her coming back to
Nigeria to respond to the allegations against her by Efcc. For the
14 days or so the woman was in that hospital I was under tremendous
pressure from her and her sister to secure her release as her
health was said to be deteriorating and so I had little choice when
that window of option was thrown open after Efcc rejected the
sureties she provided, more so when we were informed that the
Acting Chairman requested that I should stand for her.

I and her former friend who was a House of Representative member
signed the bail bond and she was accordingly released on bail that
same day.
While on bail, we were asked to come for further interrogations
which were duly complied with. Even though I live and work in Lagos
I was always taking her to Efcc on her scheduled days except one or
two occasions when I asked a colleague of mine in Abuja to
accompany her.

I observed that Efcc was not much eager to charge her but was
more interested in getting the details of her alleged properties,
movable and immovable and that process took almost two months to
accomplish. Even after completing the process, still no charge was
preferred up till date.

Sometime ago in April this year I got a call from a colleague in
Abuja that Efcc has invaded the home of Dr Olejeme and were
forcefully trying to gain access to the compound. I became alarmed
since I know that Dr Olejeme was on bail and I could not reasonably
fathom why they were there in the first place to the extent of
trying to force themselves in. I called the Investigating officer
in Abuja who answered that he is not aware of any such operation
from their office. When I was told that they were almost breaking
down the gate, I asked them to allow them in even if they are
unknown but they must alert the nearest police station of the
strange situation that was playing out. They were allowed in and
the information I got later on was that the Efcc personnels were
there at the instance of one Arthur Eze who was alleged to have
given money to Dr Olejeme for political and charitable purposes but
is now demanding the money to be paid back to him with interest.
When Dr Olejeme could not respond to his demands, he instituted a
civil suit in court in Abuja which was widely publicized in the
media.

I guess when the media propaganda did not make Dr Olejeme to
bulge, he chose Efcc to recover the money hence the ferocity and
killer mood with which they came for the recovery. I learnt that Dr
Olejeme was terribly shocked and shaken at such display of raw
power and show of intimidation as it was reported that the street
was condoned off and no visitor was allowed to come into the street
and the number of Efcc officers that came for the operation was
more than 10. I was told that when they eventually gained access
into her house they made away with documents and some other
valuables. I was able to get in touch with the Director of the Efcc
in Enugu who told me that the woman must be brought to Enugu that
same day, I pleaded with him to allow me bring the woman personally
a request he turned down. I later learnt that the woman was taken
out of the house to where I do not know. Up till now I have tried
her number and it is not going through. I called the colleague that
introduced me to the woman and her sister and they told me that
they are yet to see her and that the children are feeding from hand
to mouth. The Efcc director later called asking me of her
whereabout and I told him that I did not know as they were the
cause for her disappearance. He requested for her number which I
promptly supplied to him. Since then I have not heard from him.

I was not satisfied with that explanation and had to travel to
Abuja to see the family. I saw all the children and I asked them
where is your mother and they told me that they have not seen their
mother after the last visit of Efcc to their house. The children
are in the hands of people the woman employed to take care of
them.
The pertinent question is, who is holding the woman? Why will Efcc
from another unit invade the home of a suspect who is on bail with
them, more so when the matter they came for is purely a civil
matter which was already in court? Why the long wait to charge a
woman whom efcc declared wanted since last year and who came back
in December and was granted bail early January and up to now, no
charge? Was this issue of rejecting valid sureties and insisting
that I should be the one to stand for her a ploy to embarrass me
for bringing the woman back from abroad to respond to her charges?
Why am I being asked to produce her when it is the same Efcc that
invaded her home when she was under bail? It is pertinent to point
out that later in the day, the investigating officer in Abuja
confirmed that the Efcc officials who came from Enugu got
permission from the Acting Chairman to come and arrest Dr Olejeme.
These and many other questions demand answers!

MONDAY ONYEKACHI UBANI ESQ.,LEGAL PRACTITIONER.