December 30, 2008
In the face of widespread public condemnation of violent removal of Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), from last Saturday’s graduation ceremony of the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Mr. Umaru Yar’adua has ordered the immediate release of Mr. Ribadu’s certificate.
Ribadu and members of his family as well as friends who had traveled to the institute’s location in Kuru, near Jos, were manhandled as they waited for his graduation ceremony. Ribadu and his family, including children, were thrown out of the event by security operatives acting on the orders of the Yar’adua regime. The night before the graduation, Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa had stormed the institute and ordered its officials not to allow Ribadu to be part of the graduation ceremony.
The decision generated furious reactions from progressive politicians, civil and democratic organizations as well as political and legal activists. Gani Fawehinmi described the treatment meted out to Ribadu as a sign of fascism on the part of Yar’adua’s usurper regime. One European diplomat also told SaharaReporters that the European Union “was appalled by the humiliation of Ribadu and by the government’s apparent retreat from the war against corruption.”
Yar’adua’s about-face came in a press release issued by Ima Niboro, press secretary to Yar'adua's deputy, Goodluck Jonathan.
The manhandling of Ribadu after security agents bundled him out of the Unity Hall venue of the event has led Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro scurrying from one explanation to another. Since last weekend, the police authorities have changed their stories several times. They first claimed that Ribadu was merely asked to put on a uniform and that he then disappeared from the hall. Later, they unsuccessfully tried to put the blame on the management of the institution. But Dr. Adamu Fika, the study director of "Course 30" to which Ribadu belonged, had earlier announced to the public that Ribadu could not attend the graduation because of “ill-health,” but that lie could not be sustained for long.
SaharaReporters had reported that Nigeria Andoakaa, Nigeria's controversial attorney general, had collaborated with Okiro, the Inspector General of Police, to pressure the NIPSS management overnight to frustrate Ribadu's graduation from the institute.
Aondoakaa had arrived Jos City (where he maintains a mansion) on Friday night and reportedly met in a hotel with acting Director-General of NIPSS, Dr. James Kola Opadiran, to deliver an “order from the Villa” about Ribadu's fate.
While the public outcry that greeted the attack on Ribadu has made the Yar'adua regime to back down, a top officer at Police Headquarters in Abuja told SaharaReporters that IG Mike Okiro “is still determined to deal with Ribadu.” Two officers told our correspondent that Okiro, whose appointment as IG was facilitated by former Governor James Ibori, was in Owerri over the weekend and boasted to a group of police officers that he would “finish that boy,” referring to Ribadu.
Prior to the Jos plot, Ribadu’s successor, Mrs. Farida Waziri, had finalized plans to arrest him. Waziri had asked Ribadu to meet with her to discuss “files missing from the EFCC.” The plan was to ambush Ribadu when he showed up, thus technically preventing him from completing his studies at NIPSS.
Okiro has so far issued two queries to Ribadu for challenging the IG and the Yar'adua government in court over his demotion. Also the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court last week denied Ribadu’s request for protection in an application for injunctive protections from harassment. The judge’s ruling emboldened the Yar'adua government to manhandle him at the graduation ceremony.
Ribadu is due to meet tomorrow with IG Okiro at the police headquarters. According to our source there, “if the plans and threats by Okiro in Owerri last weekend materialize, Ribadu will not walk out of the meeting a free man.”
Just as were about to publish this report, our correspondents received late-breaking details that the EFCC had revealed that it had received petitions accusing Ribadu of owning properties in Dubai and London. The petition also reportedly accused Ribadu of not depositing billions of naira of cheques in the agency’s possession.
Our correspondents are working on these new developments and should file reports soon.
Ribadu and members of his family as well as friends who had traveled to the institute’s location in Kuru, near Jos, were manhandled as they waited for his graduation ceremony. Ribadu and his family, including children, were thrown out of the event by security operatives acting on the orders of the Yar’adua regime. The night before the graduation, Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa had stormed the institute and ordered its officials not to allow Ribadu to be part of the graduation ceremony.
The decision generated furious reactions from progressive politicians, civil and democratic organizations as well as political and legal activists. Gani Fawehinmi described the treatment meted out to Ribadu as a sign of fascism on the part of Yar’adua’s usurper regime. One European diplomat also told SaharaReporters that the European Union “was appalled by the humiliation of Ribadu and by the government’s apparent retreat from the war against corruption.”
Yar’adua’s about-face came in a press release issued by Ima Niboro, press secretary to Yar'adua's deputy, Goodluck Jonathan.
The manhandling of Ribadu after security agents bundled him out of the Unity Hall venue of the event has led Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro scurrying from one explanation to another. Since last weekend, the police authorities have changed their stories several times. They first claimed that Ribadu was merely asked to put on a uniform and that he then disappeared from the hall. Later, they unsuccessfully tried to put the blame on the management of the institution. But Dr. Adamu Fika, the study director of "Course 30" to which Ribadu belonged, had earlier announced to the public that Ribadu could not attend the graduation because of “ill-health,” but that lie could not be sustained for long.
SaharaReporters had reported that Nigeria Andoakaa, Nigeria's controversial attorney general, had collaborated with Okiro, the Inspector General of Police, to pressure the NIPSS management overnight to frustrate Ribadu's graduation from the institute.
Aondoakaa had arrived Jos City (where he maintains a mansion) on Friday night and reportedly met in a hotel with acting Director-General of NIPSS, Dr. James Kola Opadiran, to deliver an “order from the Villa” about Ribadu's fate.
While the public outcry that greeted the attack on Ribadu has made the Yar'adua regime to back down, a top officer at Police Headquarters in Abuja told SaharaReporters that IG Mike Okiro “is still determined to deal with Ribadu.” Two officers told our correspondent that Okiro, whose appointment as IG was facilitated by former Governor James Ibori, was in Owerri over the weekend and boasted to a group of police officers that he would “finish that boy,” referring to Ribadu.
Prior to the Jos plot, Ribadu’s successor, Mrs. Farida Waziri, had finalized plans to arrest him. Waziri had asked Ribadu to meet with her to discuss “files missing from the EFCC.” The plan was to ambush Ribadu when he showed up, thus technically preventing him from completing his studies at NIPSS.
Okiro has so far issued two queries to Ribadu for challenging the IG and the Yar'adua government in court over his demotion. Also the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court last week denied Ribadu’s request for protection in an application for injunctive protections from harassment. The judge’s ruling emboldened the Yar'adua government to manhandle him at the graduation ceremony.
Ribadu is due to meet tomorrow with IG Okiro at the police headquarters. According to our source there, “if the plans and threats by Okiro in Owerri last weekend materialize, Ribadu will not walk out of the meeting a free man.”
Just as were about to publish this report, our correspondents received late-breaking details that the EFCC had revealed that it had received petitions accusing Ribadu of owning properties in Dubai and London. The petition also reportedly accused Ribadu of not depositing billions of naira of cheques in the agency’s possession.
Our correspondents are working on these new developments and should file reports soon.
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