Anti graft operatives allegedly searched a building housing an apartment occupied by two sons of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over the weekend.
According to Premium Times, the building also houses an apartment occupied by Chiemeka Orji, son of a former governor of Abia state, Theodore Orji.
Legit.ng gathers that the operatives also searched Orji’s son’s apartment.
An anti-graft spokesperson reportedly suggested that Chiemeka might have been the target, while other sources claimed that the home of Atiku’s children, Aliyu and Mustapha, was the primary target.
The development was reportedly confirmed by Paul Ibe, a spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar family, on Sunday, December 10.
Ibe stated that the officers who conducted the “grievous act of intimidation” were “unable to find anything implicating.”
According to sources informed about the raid, those who executed it were from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Sources further claimed that while Aliyu and Mustapha were not around when the raid occurred, as they are both studying for master’s degrees in foreign universities, the anti-graft operatives apprehended those with whom they share the building and took them to the EFCC office. They further claimed that some properties were confiscated.
Chiemeka Orji is said to have been one of those arrested. The ex governor’s son was allegedly taken to the EFCC office in Abuja alongside his brother, and two vehicles were confiscated from them.
A source reportedly stated: “When the EFCC officers arrived on Saturday, they met Theodore Orji’s sons at home, because they both live in the same building.
“They asked to see the apartment of Aliyu and Mustapha Atiku-Abubakar but Theodore Orji’s sons refused to show them, saying their friends are out of the country, anyway.
“The EFCC operatives then said they have intelligence that a large cache of dollars had been kept in the apartment which they had come to recover. They forcibly searched the apartment, but there was no hard currency or anything that could be construed as fraudulently damning.”
Orji’s sons were reportedly released soon after they were questioned at the EFCC office. However, as at Monday morning, December 10, two cars belonging to them were allegedly still in possession of the anti-graft agency.
When contacted, an EFCC spokesperson, Tony Orilade, reportedly said he had no immediate knowledge of the operation, and expressed strong doubts that Abubakar’s sons’ home could be raided.
However, he said the EFCC has been investigating Orji, and it was possible the former governor’s children were the target of further investigation into how state funds were used during his 2007 to 2015 tenure.
Legit.ng
