EFCC Seals Former Minister’s Home.

 

Julius Bokoru, the Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs to former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, has criticised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for sealing his principal’s Maitama home in Abuja.

Bokoru expressed his dissatisfaction in a statement released on Monday titled “A grave breach of decency: EFCC’s attempted raid and defacement of Sylva’s family home.”

In November, the EFCC declared Sylva wanted over an alleged $14.8m fraud. Before this, military intelligence officers had raided his Abuja residence, detaining his brother and driver over claims linking the former minister to an alleged failed coup plot. Sylva’s media aide had faulted the EFCC for not inviting the former minister before launching a search for him.

Sylva had also written to the EFCC last week, requesting an agreed date to respond to the commission’s invitation.

According to Bokoru, the commission carried out its recent action “without a single letter, without a subpoena, without a warrant, without notification, and without even the most basic adherence to lawful process.”

The statement continued, “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.”

He added that EFCC operatives made another forceful attempt to enter Sylva’s home and spray-painted the walls in bright red, marking them with the words “EFCC — Keep Off” as though the property belonged to a fugitive instead of a respected public figure.

Bokoru said what made the incident more troubling was that the residence was where Sylva’s children, relatives, and staff had been restricted for weeks.

He stated, “It is the last space available to them, especially now that it appears they are not permitted to leave the country freely. To violate such a place without warning, without justification, is to inflict terror upon innocent people who have no connection whatsoever to political gamesmanship.

“Where, one must ask, are his children expected to go? How long must they endure this atmosphere of fear and uncertainty?”

He described the EFCC’s actions as “arbitrary” and “vindictive,” arguing that they breached democratic norms and the values the agency was created to uphold.

However, Bokoru cleared President Bola Tinubu of involvement.

“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 authority.

“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 described Sylva as a statesman who had served Nigeria “with calmness, loyalty and an almost disarming sense of patriotism,” adding that the former minister had remained composed even under provocation.

Bokoru also pointed out that several of Sylva’s aides and domestic workers — including Paganengigha Anagha, Friday Lusa Paul, Musa Mohammed, and Police Officer Reuben Ayuba — continued to be detained for weeks over what he called vague and unsubstantial allegations.

He stated, “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 added, “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.”