Mrs Patience Jonathan, the wife of former
President Goodluck Jonathan, said the acting
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, wrote a letter to the British High Commission in Nigeria, asking the British Government not to issue her with a visa.
Patience said this in a petition written by her
lawyers, Granville Abibo (SAN) & Co. which
was addressed to the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara.
Patience said the British Government subsequently investigated her and found her not wanting and thereafter issued her with a visa.
The petition, which was signed by G.I. Abibo
(SAN), read in part, "In February 2017, the
EFCC through its acting Chairman, Mr Ibrahim
Magu, made a spurious report against our
client to the United Kingdom authorities and
other international bodies - all in a grand
design to forestall the renewal of her visa and
other travel documents.
"The allegations against our client by the
EFCC were duly investigated by the UK
authorities and other international bodies who
found the reports baseless and thereupon
issued the visa and other travel documents to
our client."
Patience said the EFCC had gone after her
relatives including her older brother, Chief
Aseminaso Kalama, for no just cause.
Besides, Mrs Esther Oba, Patience's relative,
had also been declared a person of interest
by the commission for allegedly operating a
bank account with $429,381.87 (N135,255,289.05) for the former President's wife.
Patience said the Nigeria Police Force and
the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
had also joined the EFCC in intimidating and
harassing her family, adding that the three
agencies had searched her properties at least
five times.
She added, "On November 3, 2016, the EFCC
physically raided and attacked the premises
of our client and her relations situated at 2
Igbeti Street, Maitama, Abuja, in the absence
of the occupants of the house, carting away
valuable items.
"On November 30, 2016, the same premises
were raided by the officials of the NDLEA with
a lorry load of over 50 operatives under the
guise of searching for drugs kept in the house. This raid was carried out in the absence of the occupants of the said house.
Our client's house was broken into and vandalised.
"On January 4, 2017, the EFCC again broke
into the said house claiming to be looking for
foreign currencies stashed therein. This was
done in the absence of the occupants of the
house and without any search warrant. The
operatives raided the house and took away
whatever they fancied."
The anti-graft agency commenced investigation on Patience in March 2016.
Although she had never been invited by the
commission, several bank accounts linked to
her with a total sum of about N15bn had been
frozen while properties worth about N3bn had
been seized by the commission.
All attempts to speak with the spokesman for
the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, proved
abortive as he did not respond to repeated
calls put through to his telephone.
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