The Ohaneze Ndigbo has alleged that the arrest of Chairman of Innoson Motors Innocent Chukwuma by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is a ploy against Igbos.
Recall that the EFCC noted that his arrest “followed his refusal to honour invitation by the commission having earlier jumped an administrative bail granted him in a case being investigated by the Capital Market and Insurance Fraud Unit of the commission’s Lagos office.”
But the apex Igbo socio-political group has demanded an apology from the anti-graft agency describing the arrest as ‘selective justice.’
In a statement by the Enugu chapter of the body, it also demanded an apology from the agency over the arrest.
“The illegal arrest of Chief Chukwuma even in the face of weighty and incriminating evidence against a bank, is condemnable in all its ramifications,” the statement read in part.
“Even more condemnable is the application of brute force by the operatives against the wife of Chief Chukwuma who was not the target of the operatives. That the operatives could display such brutality against a woman indicates the level of bestiality in the Nigerian society.
“Chief Innocent Chukwuma is a genuine entrepreneur who has, through a dint of hard work, built up a business empire that has offered employment to thousands on Nigerian youths.
In addition, the Igbo group noted that “The barbarity displayed by the operatives of the EFCC against Chief Chukwuma has reinforced the assumption that he was singled out for humiliation for no other reason than his capacity to succeed in a system that has limited Igbo enterprise for decades.
“It has also cast a dark and damnable pall over the pretensions of the government at fighting corruption, which many Nigerians perceive as manifestly selective.”
