A group of northern traders has petitioned President Bola Tinubu, seeking his intervention to release cooking gas and some vehicles alleged to have been confiscated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last September in Kano.
In a letter addressed to the President, the Northern Traders Alliance (NTA) commended Tinubu for his recent order to release seized food items by customs, calling it a “humanitarian gesture” that demonstrated his “kind spirit and humane nature towards the deprived.”
However, the traders are now seeking redress for the seizure of their cooking gas and vehicles by the EFCC under the guise of economic sabotage.
According to the petition, the traders had initially agreed to a plea bargain with the EFCC, but the anti-graft agency unexpectedly auctioned off the seized liquid gas content, with outsiders brought in from Abuja to benefit from the auction, allegedly against standard rules.
“We are therefore calling on your good office to call the EFCC to order and ask them to return our goods to us,” the petition stated.
NTA coordinator, Abba Usman, expressed gratitude to the President and prayed for the success of his administration while urging him to “act without fear or favour” in resolving the issue.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and the Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission were all copied by the petitioners.
