Less than 24 hours after he was granted administrative bail from his unlawful arrest and incarceration from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) office, Lagos lawyer, Rickey Tarfa(SAN) yesterday approached Federal High Court, Lagos accompanied by 32 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by the former President, Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun asking the court to compel the anti-graft agency and his Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Mustapha Magu to pay him N2.5billion’
Apart from the monetary compensation, Tarfa also asked the court to compel the defendants which included Moses Awolusi, the operatives that illegally arrested him and the Deputy Director Operations, EFCC, Lagos office, Iliyasu Kwarbai, to release his two mobile handsets deceitfully collected from him on Friday, February, 5 2016 at their Ikoyi office in Lagos to the court for the purpose of destructing all information, data and other retrievable materials stored in the two handsets.
He also sought an order urged the court to direct the defendants to release his Mercedes Benz SUV with registration No. KJA 700CG unlawfully seized from him.
The Senior Advocate also asked the court to order EFCC, Magu and two other defendants to publicly apologize to him in at least two widely circulated national newspapers, social media and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) as well as Channels Television within 24 hours from the day of the judgment of the suit. Besides, he asked for an order of perpetual injunction restraining all the defendants and their agents from further violating his rights apart from the payment of N20million for the cost of this suit.
The 52 paragraph affidavits in support of the suit was sworn to by the Head of Rickey Tarfa Chambers, Mr. John Olusegun Odubela who narrated the genesis of Tarfa’s ordeal as a witness to the gestapo tactics employed by the anti-graft agency.
No date has been fixed for the hearing.
