Stop Terrorising My Family Members, Musiliu Obanikoro Warns EFCC, DSS |PoliFocus

Former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, has reacted to Thursday’s arrest of his wife, Alhaja Moroophat, by officials of the Department of State Security Service, and condemned in its totality the different versions of the agency’s narratives as published by some media houses.

He had issued a statement giving the family’s side of the story before the news of the invitation of his first daughter, Salewa, broke.


The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), upon releasing Mrs. Obanikoro on Thursday, had also asked herto report to their office this Friday and that she should comewith their first daughter, whom they want for questioning in connection with their investigation.

But in a statement signed by Obanikoro’s media aide, Mr. Jonathan Eze, the former minister urged that his wife should not be maligned in whatever way, neither should facts which are supposed to be sacred distorted to skew investigation, thereby influencing public opinion negatively on a patriotic, hard-working and innocent woman, who is completely apolitical.

He said: “We are saddened by the fact that the media was awash with false and conflicting information about the invitation of Senator Obanikoro’s wife. Ordinarily, we considered ignoring these concocted lies butfor the sake of the discerning and right thinking public, hence the need to straighten matters.

“First, Alhaja Moroophat has always been in the country managing her businesses as against the lies that she sneakedin last week from the United States. Second, No documents were found in her possession and the lies that she was arrested while trying to evacuatedocuments were a fabrication and can only survive in their warped and distorted minds.

It should also be noted that the officials only came to invite her for questioning and as against the phrase that she was whiskedaway; her driver actually drove her in her own car to the office ofthe DSS.

“Third, it was shamefully reported that the DSS were involved because there were so many armed policemen guiding her. This is another fabricated lie. The Obanikoros stopped enjoying police protection from the day he left office as minister and as a woman, who is above board in all her dealings, she does not need one.

“Finally, we are using this medium to call on the officials ofthe Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to desist from persecuting an innocent woman, who has no dealings at all with either Sylva McNamara or MOB integrated that they are investigating.

“For emphasis, the innocent woman has a history of High Blood Pressure and heart relatedailments and as such, should notbe dragged into their biased and politicised investigations.

We have absolute confidence in the judiciary and we hope to get justice in the course with the proviso that they obey the rule oflaw and avoid arbitrariness that we are seeing on daily basis.”

According to an unnamed source, after failing at their several attempts to secure an order to arrest Mrs. Obanikoro, the EFCC then involved the DSS, from where it picked her up as part of its own investigation.

The source, which consistently queried the involvement of the DSS in the matter, however warned of the growing abuse of court processes and disregard for the rule of law by the present administration, adding that the country might pay dearly for it.

A family source who did not want to be named told SIGNAL on Friday the invitation of Salewa in addition to her mum simply betrays the real agenda behind the persecution of the former Defence minister.

“They are asking for Salewa’s passports before they can release her. Why are they terrorising Obanikoro’s family allfor doing nothing? What is the wife’s offence? What is his daughter’s offence? Does this not show that they have no case and are simply terrorising innocent women all in a bid to punish Senator Obanikoro who they have been so desperate to nail through fabrications and concocted lies in their sponsoredmedia platforms?”, the source queried. -SIGNAL 

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