The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC went on a house searching spree during the weekend. It has been reported that men of the agency visited the posh Maitama neighbuorhood in Abuja on Saturday into the building housing the apartment occupied by Aliyu and Mustapha Atiku-Abubakar and the apartment occupied by Chiemeka Orji, son of ex-Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji which was also reportedly searched by anti-graft operatives.
Although sources said the home of Mr Abubakar’s children was the primary target, an anti-graft spokesperson suggested Chiemeka might have been the target.
The raid on these apartments on Saturday comes a day after claims emerged that Mr Abubakar’s running mate, Peter Obi, had his bank accounts frozen by federal authorities. Two anti-graft agencies, EFCC and ICPC, denied freezing Mr Obi’s accounts.
Paul Ibe, a spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar family, confirmed the search to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, saying the officers who conducted the “grievous act of intimidation” were “unable to find anything implicating.”
Neither Aliyu nor Mustapha was in town when the anti-graft agents arrived — as both are said to be studying for master’s degrees at foreign universities — but those with whom they share the building were reportedly taken to the EFCC office and some of their properties confiscated, sources said.
Chiemeka was said to have been taken to the EFCC office in Abuja alongside his brother, and two vehicles confiscated from them.
“When the EFCC officers arrived on Saturday, they met Theodore Orji’s sons at home, because they both live in the same building,” a source said. “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,” the source said. “They forcibly searched the apartment, but there was no hard currency or anything that could be construed as fraudulently damning.”
Our sources said Chiemeka and his brother were released soon after they were questioned at the EFCC office, but two cars belonging to them were still in possession of the anti-graft agency as of Monday morning.
Chiemeka could not be reached for comments, with his telephone line refusing to connect after multiple dials.
