The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has sealed the Abuja home of former minister of State for Perroleum, Mr. Timiprye Silva.
Silva, a former governor of oil-rich Bayelsa State was recently declared wanted by the anti-graft agency over his alleged involvement in a $14.8million fraud in the petroleum sector under his watch.
Confirming the the sealing of the Abuja property, his media aide, Julius Bokoru in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday condemned the action of the EFCC describing it as an unwarranted aggressive intrusion.”
In the statement titled, “A grave breach of decency: EFCC’s attempted raid and defacement of Sylva’s family home,” Bokoru said the action of the EFCC was undertaken “without a single letter, without a subpoena, without a warrant, without notification, and without even the most basic adherence to lawful process.”
According to Bokoru the anti-gratf agency invaded the home of the former governor with “No courtesy. No procedure. No humanity. It is behaviour unbecoming of any institution that claims to act in the national interest. What unfolded today at the Maitama residence of His Excellency, Chief Timipre Sylva, was nothing short of an affront to decency and a troubling assault on the very principles that underpin a civilised society.
“Officers of the EFCC attempted yet another aggressive intrusion into his home and proceeded to spray-paint his walls in stark red, emblazoning the words ‘EFCC — Keep Off’ as though marking the property of a fugitive rather than the home of a respected statesman.
The statement, however stated that, “We remain firmly convinced that President Bola Tinubu is not involved in these excesses. Throughout his long and distinguished public life, the President has shown unwavering respect for due process, fairness, and institutional integrity.
“This latest incident bears all the hallmarks of local political rivalry being misinterpreted, or mischievously presented, as federal instruction. It is a dangerous muddling of partisan ambition with national authorit
“Government agencies and parastatals must never allow themselves to become weapons in political contests. To do so weakens not only the institutions themselves but the very fabric of our democracy.”
He stated that Mr. Sylva had already reached out to the EFCC for a date for him to report to the agency’s office. Mr. Bokoru said that the former governor as a statesman who had served Nigeria “with calmness, loyalty and an almost disarming sense of patriotism,” saying the former minister had remained dignified even in the face of provocation.
Several close associates and personal staff of the former petroleum minister are currently being deftained by the EFCC, including Paganengigha Anagha, Friday Lusa Paul, Musa Mohammed, and Police Officer Reuben Ayuba.
The statement further reads that, “These are ordinary men, with families and hopes of their own, now caught in a political dragnet that has stripped them of clarity, certainty, and liberty,” he stated.
“Their prolonged detention is unjust. Their suffering is needless. And their situation is emblematic of the wider injustice unfolding before the nation.
“Yet, in spite of the pain and deep emotional strain of this moment, we remain hopeful. Nigeria has weathered storms before — storms of uncertainty, of injustice, of heavy-handedness — and emerged stronger.
“We believe justice will rise above intimidation, that truth will outlast malice, and that, as with all trials faced with dignity and faith, this too shall pass.”
