Lawyer Cries Out 'End EFCC' Now Before it's Too Late

An Ibadan based Legal Practitioner, Richarmond O. Natha-Alade has called for an end to the lawlessness, human rights violations and monster-like behaviours of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In about a five minutes video where he is calling on the attention and intervention of president Buhari and the Chairman of EFCC, the Lawyer decried the conducts and activities of the EFCC, particularly, at the Ibadan Zonal Head Office of the Commission, which he described as that of a ‘monster’; which must stop before it’s too late.

Richarmond O. Natha-Alade raised alarm over gross human rights abuses and unnecessary interference of the Commission on matters purely civil in nature; of which EFCC has become and monster in enforcement of debts, recovery of inter-personal loans and enforcement of failed business transactions which is not within the purpose of their establishment and which is not within the confines of their powers and/or speculations of the law putting the Commission in existence.

The Lawyer condemned the situation EFFC arrests and declare suspects guilty by their conducts without charging them to court for a period well over months; of which the suspect is detained perpetually and given the options of either paying back the money involved in the debt, loan or failed business transaction to them or choose the other option of being perpetually kept in their custody for months without charges.

Natha-Alade condemned the situation where the legal department of the Commission has been relegated and made powerless when matters of law and legal advice is involved. In his words, “I have the information from the legal department of the EFCC, Ibadan Zonal Head office that their advice is worthless and treated as nothing; as it is subject to the overall discretion of the overall boss." In other words, even if the matters brought to the Commission are meaningless, if the Zonal head of the Commission who knows nothing about law ask them to charge same to court, so be it; hence, over-stocking the already overstretched and overburdened judicial system in the country.

The Lawyer also condemned the situation where Lawyers are maltreated, frustrated, demeaned and their works are made so difficult by refusal of the Commission operatives to leave their clients to go upon successful investigation of no crime involvement, refusal to grant them bail or charge the suspects to court within the time allowed by law. In his words Natha-Alade decried the harassment of Lawyers in performance of their legal duties and the horrifying conducts of the Commission “who mandates the depositing of Lawyers’ Call to Bar Certificate as bond, in taking bails of suspects in their custody.

“EFCC don’t honour bail conditions that is already met and they detain suspects perpetually. They result to forcefully charging your client to court with no proper proof of evidence once they are becoming frustrated and embarrassed by your client’s over-long presence.”

The Lawyer calls for the attention and intervention of President Buhari and the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to look into the shady conducts of Ibadan Zonal Head office of the Commission and investigate accordingly before another protest against EFCC similar to the just ended #endsars protest occurs.