Oluwatosin Adekunle, a Nigerian living abroad, has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to court over his controversial declaration as a wanted person by the anti-graft agency.
In legal documents filed before the court, Adekunle is asking for a declaration that the action taken by the commission is entirely unlawful, unconstitutional, and a direct violation of his fundamental human rights. According to an affidavit filed in support of the suit, the trouble began when the anti-graft body published notices across its official website and social media handles branding him a wanted citizen, a move he contends was made without securing any prior order or leave from a competent court.
The applicant is pressing the judiciary to compel the commission to immediately pull down the publication from all its digital platforms. Beyond the takedown, he is seeking a restraining order to stop the agency from further publishing his name or taking any steps that would infringe upon his rights to personal liberty, private and family life, freedom of movement, and protection from degrading treatment. He is also demanding a formal public apology alongside 5 million Naira in general damages.
Shedding light on the root of the controversy, Zoyols News gathered that the legal battle stems from a separate investigation involving his business partner, Mrs. Victoria Chidinma Nwachukwu, who is facing allegations bordering on money laundering and obtaining money under false pretences. Adekunle explained that Nwachukwu had incorporated a firm, Oasis Vivacity Global Limited, using his residential address as the corporate office and listing him as a director and bank account signatory entirely without his knowledge or consent.
The situation spiraled out of control when Nwachukwu allegedly ran into heavy debts with a customer and went off the radar, making her inaccessible to investigators. Adekunle claimed that rather than tracking down the primary suspect, the agency turned its searchlights on him, resorting to intimidation and harassment with the clear intent of arresting and detaining him in place of his fleeing partner. He maintained that no formal complaint or prima facie evidence links him directly to any financial crime, save for his unfortunate entanglement through the company registration.
Furthermore, the suit reveals that the escalating situation has thrown his immediate family into profound distress, worsened by alleged threats from operatives to pick up any member of his household if he failed to turn himself in. Adekunle’s legal team argued that an anti-graft body cannot unilaterally slam a wanted label on a citizen without a valid court order, emphasizing that such a declaration requires proper judicial authorization, especially where no warrant of arrest has been issued or anyone has escaped from lawful custody.
As of press time, a specific date is yet to be fixed for the hearing of the lawsuit.
