Following a fierce face off on Wednesday between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, may have returned to his hideout
The EFCC operatives’ failed to arrest the ‘wanted’ immediate past helmsman of the Confluence State on Wednesday night when they surrounded the state government’s lodge located in Asokoro in the nation’s capital where Bello was hiding.
Prior to Wednesday night, when the gun-wielding operatives laid siege to the lodge, the former governor claimed that he had finally honoured the invitation of the EFCC over some allegations, arguing that he had nothing to hide
Report say that Bello had since returned to the State Government House in Lokoja, Kogi State capital, where he had been hiding before he came to Abuja to “honour EFCC invitation”.
Reports say that after several hours of laying siege to the Asokoro government lodge, the operatives still failed to achieve their mission of arresting the ex-governor.
Officials from the security agency, while speaking anonymously last night, because they were not authorised to speak on record, lamented that his arrest proved difficult because of a sitting governor shielding him.
“If not because of his successor, a sitting governor that is providing him cover, we would have arrested him since. This is still in line with a subsisting arrest warrant at our disposal,” one of the detectives of the agency confided in Daily Trust.
When asked to provide more insight, the detective said, “The chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, is cautious of rule of law. He does not want to flout some laws, particularly the law that confers immunity to Governor Ododo. So, that is why there has been restraint.”
The official, while revealing how the former governor escaped again, said the strategy used when he first escaped, was the same method used to evade fresh arrest by the anti-graft agency.
An official in Kogi government house, while speaking to our correspondent via phone, berated the EFCC for trying to arrest Yahaya Bello in a gestapo manner after he had submitted himself to the anti-graft agency for cooperation.
He said, “There is no need for all these gestapo arrests. That is why Oga Yahaya was rescued through the governor’s convoy from gun-wielding operatives that had shot sporadically in the air for several hours at a time he wanted to rest after a hectic day.”
In April, the EFCC declared Bello wanted after he reportedly shunned a series of invitations and resisted arrest. EFCC officials had stormed Bello’s residence in Abuja to arrest him, but there was a stalemate.
After hours of being unable to secure their mission, the security operatives were reinforced with backup support from the Police and Department of State Services (DSS). They were planning to forcefully arrest Bello when Governor Usman Ododo, Bello’s successor, arrived at the scene.
Ododo, who drove into Bello’s compound, departed after a while. However, as he was leaving, reports filtered in that Bello was in his vehicle, forcing security operatives who had been on standby for hours to open fire.
Since that incident, which happened on April 17, 2024, Bello has not been sighted in public.
A week after, the chairman of the anti-graft agency, Olukoyede, disclosed that he made personal efforts to invite the former governor to respond to investigations regarding his alleged involvement in money laundering to the tune of N80.2 billion.
While addressing media executives at the corporate headquarters of the EFCC in Jabi, Abuja, Olukoyede said he had a telephone conversation with Bello offering him ample opportunities to present himself for interrogation by investigators of the EFCC.
“On my honour, I put a call to him to honour him as a former governor. He said he could not come, claiming that a certain lady had surrounded the EFCC with over 100 journalists to embarrass or intimidate him and all that stuff.
“I said if that is your fear, I will make you come directly to my floor. I will invite my operatives to interrogate you in my own office. What could be more honourable than that? Do you know what he said? ‘Can’t they come to my village?’ My director of investigations also sent a message to him.”
