From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and family of detained Abuja-based businessman, Mr. Friday Audu have called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in the alleged persecution and violation of his rights by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged trump-up charges.
Specifically, they want President Tinubu to order an independent investigation into the matter by the EFCC while urging the judiciary to uphold fairness and independence.
In a joint statement in Abuja, HURIWA and the family members through their legal representative noted that “Mr. Audu, like every Nigerian, is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“The EFCC must cease its media trial tactics and return to the courtroom where it must prove its case – not posture on social media.”
They accused the Commission of spreading false information, violating due process, and using tactics aimed at prejudicing his ongoing trial.
Counsel to the family, Usman Salifu-Oguche described the EFCC’s recent public statements as “deliberate misinformation” and “a campaign of calumny” intended to mislead the public and distort judicial proceedings.
“Mr. Friday has never been arrested by the EFCC or any other law enforcement agency, whether on December 10 or any other date,” Salifu-Oguche said.
“In truth, he only became aware of the operation a month later – on January 9, 2025 – after receiving two unverified calls from individuals claiming to be EFCC operatives.”
According to the legal team, the first call, made on December 17, 2024, came from someone identifying himself as “Nnamdi,” while the second, on December 22, came from “Usman.” Neither of the callers was confirmed to be an authorised EFCC official.”
The legal team also condemned the EFCC’s use of Mr. Friday’s mug shot, describing it as a deliberate act of public shaming.
Despite voluntarily appearing before the EFCC, Mr. Friday was compelled to pose for a mug shot behind a placard displaying criminal charges,” said Salifu-Oguche. “This image has been widely circulated to paint him as guilty even before the court has had its say.”
He alleged that this is part of a wider EFCC strategy to manipulate public opinion through media trials, rather than relying on verifiable evidence.
“They have labeled him the ‘kingpin’ of a syndicate involving 792 persons – people he has never met nor interacted with. We challenge the EFCC to produce even a single individual from the list who can demonstrate any connection to Mr. Friday,” he said.
The group accused the EFCC of fabricating claims to justify what they described as a “baseless prosecution.”
HURIWA National coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko, noted that the alleged actions of the EFCC ranging from unlawful detention, physical assault, duplicate charges in different courts, to deliberate media disinformation amount to a calculated attempt to prejudice the ongoing legal process and publicly convict the accused before he has had a fair chance to defend himself.
According to HURIWA, “it is appalling that while the EFCC is keeping this citizen interminably locked up and dragging him through several courts of the land with duplicate criminal charges they have continued to treat the basic tenets of the rule of law with treachery and utter contempt by continually demonising him with contemptible lies to portray him as a criminal, which he is not by any means.”
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