- Why we rearrest him – DSS
Dr Doyin Okupe, the immediate-past Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, has stated that his rearrest by the Department of State Service on the request of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, was erroneous and should not have happened.
Okupe who was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on Thursday morning said his passport had long been withheld by the Federal High Court Abuja even before finding him guilty of violating sections of the Money Laundering Act that attracted two and a half years imprisonment.
The former Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Olusegun Obasanjo and Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan added that the officers of the EFCC in Lagos and Abuja have apologised for the error in his arrest.
Narrating the ordeal on his Twitter handle, Okupe wrote, “I was arrested and detained at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos this morning, January 12, on my way to the UK for medicals, years after my passport was withheld by the FHC, Abuja.
“I just left the EFCC office where the senior and younger officers in Lagos and Abuja apologised to me for the error.”
Querying the action, he asked if it was an occupational hazard.
An attempt to seek further clarification on the issue from Okupe had yet to get a reply from the messages sent to his handle as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the DSS has explained the reasons behind his rearrest at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos State, citing the cooperation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as the mastermind for the interception.
Okupe was reportedly on Monday sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for breaching the Money Laundering Act.
According to the EFCC that engineered the arrest, Okupe was charged to court for receiving N702 million in illegal payment from public funds meant to procure arms to fight insurgency in 2019. He was convicted of the offence by the Federal High Court.
One of the charges read, “That you, Dr Doyin Okupe, being the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan from July 2012 to May 2015 and being the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, and a signatory to the bank account of Abrahams Telecoms Limited, on or October 3, 2014, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, directly took possession or control of the sum of N35million, transferred to the account of Abrahams Telecoms Ltd from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria, purporting to be for special services when you reasonably ought to have known that the said fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity.”
Justice Ojukwu, in a judgment, held that Okupe, also the former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on media to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan was found guilty of contravening Sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act, for accepting cash payments without going through a financial institution, in excess of the threshold allowed under the Act.
Reacting to his rearrest on Thursday at the Lagos Airport, the Public Relations Officer for DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya, said the former LP campaign DG was arrested after his attempt to leave the country for London.
“Doyin Okupe was intercepted by DSS at Terminal 1 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos this morning at the instance of the EFCC,” Afunanya said in a text message sent to enquiry about his (Okupe) arrest.
“He has long been handed over to the commission which requested the action. Okupe was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic.
However, one of Okupe lawyers, Tolu Babaleye, has reacted on Facebook bemoaning the arrest of his client.
Babalaye claimed that the DSS asked him to provide court processes where he paid the fine option following his money laundering conviction by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“The reason according to the source is that he was asked to produce evidence that the Federal High Court Abuja has freed him from the case in which he was convicted and paid a fine to the knowledge of the whole world and was allowed to go home.
“When will this harassment stop? Who is after Dr Okupe? As of today, the man has no case to answer, I hereby demand that the DSS should release my client immediately as this is a violation of his freedom of movement, right to liberty and dignity as a human person. This is unfair as the man’s health is fast failing,” he wrote.
His arrest was disclosed on Facebook by Babaleye on Thursday.
According to him, Okupe was on his way to London.
He claimed that the DSS asked him to provide court processes where he paid the fine option following his money laundering conviction by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“The reason according to source is that he was asked to produce evidence that the Federal High Court Abuja has freed him from the case in which he was convicted and paid fine to the knowledge of the whole world and was allowed to go home.
“When will this harassment stop? Who is after Dr. Okupe? As of today, the man has no case to answer, I hereby demand that the DSS should release my client immediately as this is a violation of his freedom of movement, right to liberty and dignity of human person. This is unfair as the man’s health is fast failing,” he stated.
Confirming Okupe’s arrest in a statement on Thursday, the spokesman for the DSS, Peter Afunanya, said Okupe was arrested based on a request from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
He noted Okupe had been handed over to the EFCC.
The statement read, “Doyin Okupe was intercepted by the DSS at Terminal 1 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos this morning at the instance of the EFCC. He has long been handed over to the Commission which requested the action. Okupe was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlan.”
The Punch
