Prominent socialite and business executive Aisha Achimugu declared a “hunger strike” while in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after being arrested by commission agents.
According to a statement released Tuesday in Abuja by Achimugu’s legal team, which was headed by Mr. Chikaosolu Ojukwu, SAN, their client was taken into custody at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja at around five in the morning.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Achimugu was listed as wanted by the EFCC in March due to claims of money laundering and criminal conspiracy.
NAN also recalls that a Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice I.E. Ekwo, had on Monday ordered Achimugu to appear before the EFCC on Tuesday, and to also, appear before the court on Wednesday.
Ojukwu said that their client had arrived voluntarily from London to honour the EFCC invitation before her arrest by operatives of the commission.
He said that the socialite had through her lawyer informed the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday that she would visit the EFCC on Tuesday.
”She has immediately gone on a hunger strike. She is a prisoner of conscience and our stand in the arrest is that it has run contrary to the rule of law,” he said.
NAN reports that efforts to reach out to the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale on the arrest of Achimugu proved abortive as the phone rang severally without picking.
Ojukwu said that Achimugu was a well-known business magnate and the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Felak Concept Group, a consortium comprising several companies in engineering, maritime, oil and gas, and information technology. (NAN)