Innoson MD Rejects Bail, Insists On Knowing Why He Was Arrested
The Oasis Reporters
December 21, 2017
The Chairman of Nigeria’s Indigenous automobile company, Innoson Motors, Innocent Chukwuma has rejected the bail granted to him by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, insisting on knowing why he was arrested in the first place.
The EFCC had released Mr Chukwuma on bail, Wednesday evening.
His release was contained in a statement issued by the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren on Wednesday night, December 20.
Innocent Chukwuma was arrested at his residence in Enugu, southeastern Nigeria, on Tuesday morning, December 19, a video footage circulating in the social media reveals. An interviewee in the video claims that she was slapped by the EFCC boss who asserted that yes, Innocent Chukwuma was “being arrested because he is Igbo”, in reference to her question.
She however did not mention who the EFCC boss is, whether it is the overall boss, or the Enugu State head of operations.
She did add that tear gas canisters were indiscriminately fired, despite having a four month old baby in the house.
Though the EFCC said the businessman who runs a local auto assembly plant was arrested following his refusal to respond to invitations by the Commission , after initially being granted administrative bail by the Commission, his company, however, maintains that its Chairman was never invited by the anti-graft agency, as repeatedly said by the female relative of the Innoson Motor Manufacturing Industry chairman.
Uwujaren said in the statement that the Innoson Motors boss and his brother Charles Chukwuma are being investigated by the Insurance and Capital Market Fraud Section of the Commission’s office in Lagos over matters bordering on N1, 478, 366, 859.66 fraud and forgery.
The Innoson Motors boss has however rejected his bail, demanding to know why he was arrested by the EFCC on Tuesday.
“You can’t come and pick me like a criminal only to ask me to go without telling me why you arrested me” in “the first place”, Chukwuma told operatives of the EFCC on Wednesday after he was released by the anti-graft agency.
Chukwuma’s company also confirmed the development on , Twitter, saying its Chairman demanded to know the reason for his arrest.
According to Sundiata Post, Group Chairman of Innoson Group, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma, was flown to Lagos by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The group said on Wednesday, that EFCC lied in the reasons it gave for the arrest of Chukwuma.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Chukwuma brought six truck-loads of “thugs,” who reportedly manhandled its operatives when they moved to arrest him.
Reacting to the development, Innoson Group, in a statement entitled ‘Re: EFCC arrests Innocent Chukwuma (Innoson)’, and signed by the Head, Corporate Communications, Cornel Osigwe, said the EFCC “lied” in the reasons it gave for the arrest, as well as in the account of what transpired during the incident.
Innoson group said Chukwuma was “never invited by the EFCC”, a point reiterated by his relative who was interviewed in the video that is currently in circulation in the social media.
