Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) yesterday stormed the home of George Turnah, the former coordinator of the Goodluck Jonathan/Namadi Sambo campaign organization, a correspondent of SaharaReporters has learned. The home is located in the Kolo community in Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa State.
Our correspondent reported that more than 20 EFCC operatives participated in the operation, accompanied by armed soldiers and mobile police, as they arrived around 5 p.m. on Friday at the swanky Kolo Creek Villa owned by Mr. Turnah, a godson to Mr. Jonathan.
Eyewitnesses said the mobile policeman and soldiers surrounded the imposing house as EFCC agents broke into the compound apparently in search of the former coordinator of the Jonathan/Sambo Youth Vanguard. A source involved in the operation said the agents missed the 33-year-old lawyer who accumulated stupendous wealth during Mr. Jonathan’s administration. Apparently, Mr. Turnah had driven out of his compound five minutes before agents of the anti-graft commission arrived.
When newsmen visited the Kolo Creek villa on Saturday afternoon, they found it deserted. A police officer stood alert at the gate. The police officer confirmed the invasion, stating that the operatives came around 5 p.m. and lay siege on the house till 10 p.m. He also confirmed that the agents arrived a few minutes after the owner of the house left to an unknown destination.
The police officer and other sources said the EFCC operatives ransacked the offices, bedrooms and sitting rooms at the villa. The operatives reportedly broke into some of the rooms that were locked and the keys not available. A source close to Mr. Turnah said the EFCC took away some documents and a few chequebooks belonging to the former president’s godson.
The source asserted that the EFCC officers found “no evidence like cash, guns or drugs in the house.” He accused the anti-corruption agents of “destroying things in the house in the course of their search.”
Mr. Turnah graduated in law at the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU). He was a former special adviser on youths to the chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) during the Jonathan administration. Married to Timi Jennifer Turnah, he is the Group President of the Celtic Pride Group of Companies, a conglomerate of firms, based in Abuja.
EFCC sources said their files indicated that the godson raked in billions of naira during the administration of former President Jonathan.
All attempts to reach Mr. Turnah on his mobile phones were futile as the two numbers were switched off. As at the time of filing this report, one of his close associates who promised to get across to him when contacted on phone was yet to call back.
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