The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday detained Mrs. Precious Fani-Kayode, who is the wife of a former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, in Ado Ekiti for hours.
Precious, who was a guest of Governor Ayodele Fayose, had gone to a branch of Access Bank in Ado Ekiti around 3pm when she was detained by officials of the bank.
Sensing that she was not being promptly attended to, she inquired from officials what the problem was and was told she was being detained on the instructions of the EFCC.
Precious, who had her eight-month-old baby with her at the time, was prevented from leaving the banking hall thereafter.
It took the intervention of Fayose, who led scores of supporters to the bank around 7pm to secure her release.
Speaking with Punch correspondent after the incident, Mrs. Fani-Kayode lamented that she was badly treated by the officials while her baby was denied food.
She stated, “I’m not a politician and that account had been dormant for about five years. I only activated it last month in Port Harcourt.
“I decided to go to Access Bank to make some withdrawals when I was detained on the instructions of the EFCC.
“They told me the account had been frozen and they were asked by the EFCC to arrest me on the spot.
“I have been operating the account since 2005 when I was a student in the university. They had earlier frozen my two bank accounts which they have not opened till today and I have been waiting for them to invite me, but up till today, they have not.
“The balance in the account is just N200,000; so, I don’t know what their interest is. I’m a private person. I have not received any political fund; so, why are they trying to starve my family?
“That account has nothing to do with politics. This is dehumanising. I had to call the governor to inform him of the development.”
Condemning the action of the EFCC and the attitude of the bank officials, Fayose warned the anti-graft agency against becoming lawless and reckless against Nigerians.
He asked the commission to prepare for a stiff resistance if it did not stop “persecuting” him and his friends.
Fayose added, “They can’t try that nonsense in my state. If they try it, there will be a showdown. They are over-stepping their boundary. This is a country that operates a constitution. What kind of molestation is this, taking away the rights of Nigerians because you are investigating?
“Must they terrorise people because they are in opposition? I have demanded an apology from the bank. If it fails to do that, I’m done with them. This is lawlessness.”[Punch]
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