Management of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Sunday, condemned in strong terms and threatened legal action over the invasion of its facilities by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the arrest of 93 guests from the facility in a Gestapo manner.
OOPL in a statement issued in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital and signed by its Managing Director,
Vitalis Ortese, demanded an explanation from the top management of EFCC for the unlawful forceful entry into its premises, failure of which it will be compelled to seek redress and sanctions as appropriate.
Ortese in the statement disclosed that a “Gestapo-like gang” of over 50 armed operatives of the commission had at the wee hours of 2 a.m. On Sunday morning, the OOPL facility was invaded, where they were shooting guns and threatening to kill people.
The OOPL MD explained that the action constituted “a clear invasion of private property, infringement of OOPL rights as corporate citizens, and indeed a stark and blatant violation of the rights of the people who so gathered for the event”.
LEADERSHIP gathered that a team of EFCC operatives from the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 had, at the said period, forcefully entered OOPL, the facility where the former President Olusegun Obasanjo is the proprietor and started shooting indiscriminately under the guise of searching for suspected Internet fraudsters.
The invasion led to the arrest of 93 youths. At the same time, 18 vehicles and mobile devices were also seized, leaving other participants with varying degrees of injuries while trying to escape the shooting and near-carnage among residents in the vicinity that included former President Obasanjo.
Reacting to the development, however, Ortese described the EFCC operatives’ action as illegal and an act of impunity because security operatives put in place by the OOPL management, which included Police operatives from the state command through its Divisional Headquarters in Kemta, were not informed of such an operation.
“It should be noted that the event was a private event that had been widely advertised to members of the public for days prior. It should also be noted that both the police officers stationed at the OOPL gates and the additional police sent from the Kemta Police Station, as requested by the organisers of the event and management, stated that they were not informed of any planned operation by the EFCC and neither did they present any warrant”.
“When the armed men were accosted by OOPL security and assisting police officers, they retorted, ‘We are doing our job.
“Management wishes to state that this action by the EFCC is a clear case of invasion of private property, infringement of OOPL rights as corporate citizens, and indeed a stark and blatant violation of the rights of the people who so gathered for the event.
“Management has commenced its investigations of the invasion and will take up the matter with the highest authorities, including the EFCC, the police, and the Department of State Security.
“In the meantime, management demands an explanation of these impudent actions from the Commission and an apology from the EFCC authorities for the infringement of its rights, to all those who gathered, and those who sustained serious injuries from the gangster-like induced chaos. Failure for which the management will be compelled to seek redress and sanctions as appropriate”.
