By Lere Olayinka
Those of us in Yorubaland who were told the tales of “A ó mérin j’ọba ẹ̀wẹ̀kú ẹwẹlẹ” (We will crown elephant as the king…) will understand the Igbo’s Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo tales.
Just with a slight difference, while “A ó mérin j’ọba ẹ̀wẹ̀kú ẹwẹlẹ” was about Ìjàpá ọlọ́gbọ́n ẹ̀wẹ́ (Tortoise the trickster) tricking the elephant to the King’s palace to be used for sacrifice, Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo was about the same tortoise (Mbeku in Igbo language) tricking the elephant to the Igwe’s palace to fulfill the condition of marrying the princess. The princess had told her father, the Igwe that whoever that would marry her must tie a rope to an elephant’s neck and bring it to the palace alive.
In both “A ó mérin j’ọba ẹ̀wẹ̀kú ẹwẹlẹ” and Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo, little tortoise was the trickster who used the big elephant to achieve fame.
However, the Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), aiming, to use the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, appeared not willing to end the way of the tortoise Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo, apparently because those running the affairs of the anti-corruption agency lacked the smartness of Ìjàpá ọlọ́gbọ́n ẹ̀wẹ́.
On Wednesday, September 18, Yahaya Bello, who was declared wanted by the EFCC over alleged involvement in money laundering to the tune of N80.2 billion, showed up at the commission’s head office in Abuja. He was accompanied by the Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Usman Ododo.
As Yahaya Bello entered the EFCC office, news filtered in via a press statement from his Media Office that he had honoured the anti-corruption agency after months of legal hide and seek.
However, just as news of Yahaya Bello’s sudden visit to the EFCC was getting to the public, another one came with the headline; “Yahaya Bello arrested in midnight sting operation,” published online by a national newspaper. And as the public was trying to wriggle out of this confusion, EFCC released a statement: “Yahaya Bello not in our custody, he is still wanted.”
It took the publication of pictures and videos to convince the public that Yahaya Bello actually visited the EFCC and was allowed to leave.
Not done with its drama, armed operatives of the EFCC stormed Kogi State Government Lodge in Abuja on the night of the same Wednesday, September 18 that Yahaya Bello was in the office of the anti-corruption agency, spent more than four hours and was not interrogated. Not minding other residents of the area where Kogi State Government Lodge is located, EFCC operatives fired several gunshots while laying siege on the Lodge accommodating Governor Ododo.
With the invasion of the Kogi State Government Lodge, the question on the lips of many Nigerians is, is the immunity of Governor Ododo that made EFCC not to interrogate Yahaya Bello in their office only functional during the day time?
Again, isn’t the Kogi State Government Lodge where EFCC operatives went to shoot indiscriminately the official residence of the same governor?
Obviously, Yahaya Bello was not allowed to leave the EFCC office because he was accompanied by Governor Ododo or that he did not follow protocol. Rather, it appears that EFCC was caught unaware by Yahaya Bello’s sudden decision to surrender himself for arrest and interrogation.
It is even being said that the plan of the EFCC was to arrest Yahaya Bello and do a Media Show of the arrest.
Therefore, by coming to the EFCC office by himself, Yahaya Bello may have defeated that plan. So he was asked to go home so that he can be arrested and paraded before television cameras as planned.
Therefore, question that Ola Olukoyede and his EFCC are yet to provide credible and convincing answers to is; why a wanted suspect walked into the headquarters of the anti-corruption agency, spent over four hours and was asked to go, only for the EFCC to start hunting for the same suspect a few hours later.
Till this is done, it will remain a conclusion in the minds of Nigerians that EFCC’s tortoise only failed in its attempt to trick the Yahaya Bello’s elephant to dance to its Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo beat.
And now that the elephant is proven wiser and smarter, isn’t it time for the tortoise to change its tactics if it is still desirous of achieving the Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo purpose?
Better still, will it not be wise for the EFCC to simply focus its attention on its duties of investigating allegations of financial impropriety, presenting its findings to the Court and allowing the Court to adjudicate freely and fairly as being done by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC)?
Most importantly, on Yahaya Bello’s case, which will be coming up at the Federal High Court, Abuja on September 25, should EFCC still be talking about interrogating a suspect it charged to Court six months ago or getting the suspect to appear in Court for trial?
Olayinka, a journalist writes from the topmost part of Oke Agbonna in Okemesi Ekiti
