Drama at Abuja airport as EFCC nabs ex-Abia gov, grills speaker son

There was a mild drama on Thursday at the Nnamdi International Airport, Abuja, when the operatives the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested a former governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji.

A member of staff at the airport, who witnessed how it happened told Daily Trust that the operatives thought Orji wanted to jet out of the country with a view to evading probe, hence they rounded him up and was immediately driven to their headquarters.

He explained that the former governor initially resisted his arrest when the operatives approached him, arguing that he had earlier been invited by the commission and he would prefer to turn himself in.

“Little arguments first ensued between the operatives and the former governor. He claimed he would prefer to honour the invitation extended to him by the anti-graft agency rather than being arrested in a Gestapo manner,” the airport staff who doesn’t want his name in print said.

When contacted by our correspondent, the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the detention of the former governor and his son, Chinedu. Who is the present Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, who reported at the commission Thursday afternoon after receiving information that his father was arrested.

Daily Trust reports that the ex-governor, who had for long been on the antigraft agency’s watch list, was still being grilled by the crack detectives of the commission as at the time of filing this report.

Orji, who currently represents Abia Central Senatorial District, and his sons, Chinedu and Ogbonna, have been under EFCC investigations for months over alleged misappropriation of public funds and money laundering.