Magu shuns police cell, sleeps in mosque
•Police management team abandons him
•Says, he should carry his cross
•Buhari endorses his suspension, approves Umar as Ag. Chairman
Suspended
acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,
Mr Ibrahim Magu, who is currently facing trial before the Presidential
Investigation Panel over allegations of corruption levelled against him
has reportedly shunned the cell of the Force Criminal Investigations
Department, FCID and turned the mosque in the premises of the police
headquarters as his abode where he has spent his fourth night.
As
he embarked on the battle of his life, the police management team was
said to have abandoned him to his fate to carry his own cross following
his refusal to identify with the police hierarchy while his reign as the
commission’s boss lasted.
Information from the FCID, yesterday,
revealed that Magu now spends his night inside a mosque at Zone 10
office of FCID, Abuja where he was ordered to be detained pending the
outcome of his trial.
Sources intimated Saturday Vanguard that
though he was supposed to be kept inside the cell at the Zone 10 office
of FCID, Abuja, he normally spends hours behind the counter in front of
the cell and after appearing at presidential panel headed by the former
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, he would be
brought back and later taken to the mosque midnight where he passed the
up till Thursday.
Though it was not possible to ascertain whether
he slept on a bed or on the ground, sources said his relatives must
have been making provision for him to sleep comfortably inside the
mosque on a special arraignment with the police. It was gathered that
FCID, Zone 10, has been well fortified since Magu was detained there and
extra efforts have been made to scrutinize both officers and men
working there including visitors. However, sources said there was a
directive that no visitor should be allowed to enter the premises of the
department in the night.
Furthermore, it was gathered that the
police management team met early yesterday and took far reaching
decisions over Magus’s trial. Police sources said the management team
decided that the embattled Commissioner of Police should be made to
carry his cross based on the fact that while he was presiding over EFCC,
he deliberately failed to respect senior police officers and never
attended senior officers meetings chaired by the Inspector General of
Police, IGP, Adamu Muhammed. The IGP reportedly summoned the meeting
with the Force Chief Legal Officer, CP Augstine Salomi in attendance
where the decision was taken.
President Muhammadu Buhari, has
reportedly warned serving Ministers, Senior Police Officers and top
government officials not to be seen offering any assistance over the
case. It was also gathered that the Presidential panel has given the
directors and senior staff of EFCC seven days to come up with all files
containing cases handled under Ibrahim Magu from 2018 till date.
Last
Tuesday, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and riot
policemen stormed Mr Magu’s private home in Karu and his official
residence in Maitama in Abuja which they ransacked.
Magu was
arrested on Monday and taken before the presidential panel where he was
grilled for over six hours before being taken to the FCID headquarters
in Area 10, Garki, Abuja where he retires to after daily interrogation
at the panel.
The panel was constituted by President Buhari to
investigate allegations of corruption levelled against him by the
Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. The memo by Malami
allegedly accused Magu of diversion of recovered loot and contained 22
allegations.
According to sources, efforts were being made to
find a good replacement for Ibrahim Magu. Many names including serving
and retired top police officers and even civilians had been touted.
Sources said most of the names being bandied in the past few days really
cropped up for consideration but the presidency rejected them with a
promise not to make the mistake made over Magu.
The name of a
retired top officer from the north in the Department of Security
Services, DSS, was reportedly penciled down by the Presidency but,
sources close to the presidency said the name of a retired police
Commissioner from Benue state who once headed FCID, Abuja, Special
Anti-robbery Squad, SARS, Lagos in their early days etc was seriously
under consideration based on his unblemished records and achievements
recorded in crime fighting and investigations while in service.
The
Commissioner of Police, Saturday Vanguard learned, was credited with
successfully carrying out a campaign against corruption as a
Commissioner of Police in Anambra State. He reportedly took his men with
placards marching on the streets and denouncing corruption with a view
to portraying the Nigeria Police Force in the proper light. He also
cracked many other high profile cases while serving in Lagos including
the tragic story of Nigeria Airways first pilot, Captain Hadiza Lantana
Oboh who was brutally killed on 8th February, 1998 and her body dumped
inside a septic tank by her domestic servants. As at last count, names
of many top serving and retired police officers including those of their
sister security agencies that were submitted, have been dropped.
Meanwhile,
as all these were going on, the presidency yesterday announced that
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate suspension of
Ibrahim Magu as Acting Chairman of the EFCC. According to the
presidency, the suspension was in order to allow for unhindered inquiry
by the Presidential Investigation Panel under the Tribunals of Inquiry
Act and Other relevant laws.
The presidency said President Buhari
has also approved that the EFCC Director of Operations, Mohammed Umar
should take charge and oversee the activities of the Commission pending
the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and further directives in
that regards.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami stated this yesterday in a statement by his spokesman, Umar Gwandu.
The
statement read in part: “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the
immediate suspension of Ibrahim Magu as Ag. Chairman, EFCC in order to
allow for unhindered inquiry by the Presidential Investigation Panel
under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act and other relevant laws.
“President
Muhammadu Buhari has also approved that the EFCC Director of
Operations, Mohammed Umar should take charge and oversee the activities
of the Commission pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation
and further directives in that regards”.
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