Prominent Ijaw sons and daughters who are on the wanted list of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been asked to come out of their hiding to honour their invitation by the anti-graft police. The call was made by, none other than, Izon Okosu-Otu, the umbrella body of Ijaw Council of Elders.
In a statement issued by Bare Etolor, chairman of the Delta state chapter of the body, Izon Okosu-Otu asked them to “go and prove their innocence”.
The elders particularly called on former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo; Kingsley Kuku, immediate past special adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta affairs and chairman of the presidential amnesty programme and Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Petroleum Minister, who it claimed had been recently invited by the EFCC and the Department of State Security Services (DSS) over allegation of corruption.
The elders expressed worries over the spate of the invitation to their sons and daughters who they said “served the country meritoriously in the various position they held in former President Jonathan’s government”.
According to the Ijaw elders, “There is no gain saying that every father must show concern about whatever happens to his child. The Ijaw nation is very worried about the recent invitation of some of our sons and daughters who have served this nation meritoriously
“Their invitation no doubt is in furtherance of the APC federal government’s fight against corruption. Our sons and daughters, we believe are not the only invitees by these anti-corruption agencies.
“It’s on this note that we call on any of our sons and daughters invited to graciously honour such invitation and prove his or her innocence. No one is above the laws of this country. Nobody, no matter how highly placed, is bigger than the government. The law should be allowed to take its course.”
It also appealed to the investigative agencies to respect fundamental human rights, adding that civility “will save us from plunging this country into unnecessary ethnic uprising, heating up in the already tense ethnic fears in the country”.
The elders called on the Ijaw nation’s factions to mend divisions existing in its socio-cultural bodies and cease to represent the ethnic group on a factional basis.
The EFCC had initially given Tompolo an ultimatum of seven days to appear before it or risk being declared wanted. The seven days elapsed and the EFCC said it was employing other means within the ambits of the law to bring Tompolo to book.
The agency has also invited Kuku, who claimed to be undergoing knee treatment abroad. Kuku later raised alarm over an alleged plot to frame him up for terrorism.
