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The True Story Of My Arrest By EFCC- Abubakar Usman
Journalist Abubakar ‘Abusidiq’ Usman has released what he said is the true story behind his EFCC detention.
Read what he wrote below.
Shortly after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) released me from detention last week Tuesday, I said I was going to tell the story of my arrest especially against the backdrop of the claim by the anti-graft agency that I was arrested on ‘’offences bordering on cyber stalking.’’ Today, I am keeping to that pledge and stating details of all that transpired from my arrest, detention, eventual release and what lies ahead.
How It All Began
At about 7.30am on Monday, 8th August, 2016 I heard a knock on the door of my residence in Kubwa, Abuja. I was actually still in bed at the time, so my wife had to attend to the door. Moments later, she came to the bedroom to tell me that there are two men at the front door asking to see me. She also stated that she was unsettled by their disposition. As my wife and two children were in the house, I had no other option than to go to the door and see what the men wanted.
Initially, I moved to the Living Room, and attempted to speak to them through the window closest to the door. “Who are you?” and “What can I do for you?” I asked. The men responded saying that they wanted to see the documents for the Toyota Corrolla car that was parked outside my house. They claimed that there were issues with the car. At this point, I noticed that one of the men had crept to the back of the house – seemingly to ensure that I did not escape. This immediately led me to believe that this unwelcome visitation had nothing to do with the car.
Thinking about my next steps, I went back into the room, asked my wife to get the car documents, then I called my next-door neighbour to inform him of the development and the presence of the at-the-time yet-to-be identified men that were in front of my house. I asked him to please come and serve as a witness, as I did not believe their story. Unbeknownst to me, he was already observing the events, as he had noticed the men creeping around the house for quite some time. My neighbour then came out of the house, which made me feel safe enough to do the same.
It was at this point that the men revealed their identities as police officers on the trail of a stolen Toyota Corrolla car. They said a man had claimed ownership of the car, and they wanted to verify his claim. We were in the middle of this discussion when a Toyota Hilux truck with Police numbering and carrying two heavily armed policemen drove into the compound.
When my wife came out of the house with the original car papers, one of the police officers flipped through the pages, stepped aside to place a phone call to a person that he claimed was his ‘Oga’, then came back into the compound to tell me that the car owner was on his way with his own original documents. We all agreed to wait to verify which of the ‘original’ documents were in fact ‘original’.
A few minutes later, a white Bus with two armed policemen and two men in casual dressing drove into the premises and told the other officers that they could now start their work. While we were still at this, one of my neighbours informed me that there was another armed officer stationed outside the compound. It was also at this point that I got to know that some of the men present were in fact EFCC operatives who had passed the night in a nearby estate – simply to ensure that they kept a close tab on my activities. Another of the men had earlier revealed to me that they had been on my trail describing the car I drove, the clothes that I wore and the places I visited three days preceding my arrest. They actually stalked me for several days prior to my arrest.
At this point, I requested that the men formally identify themselves, and one of them told me that he was an EFCC operative with a search warrant to look around my house. He also added that I was under arrest. A basic perusal of the warrant showed that I was being arrested for ‘Offensive Publications’ against the EFCC and its staff.
Before I allowed the men to execute the search warrant, I demand that the three operatives that were elected to conduct the search were first searched – in order to ensure that they did not plan any incriminating evidence in my home.
During the search, the men turned my entire house upside down and searched every nook and cranny. All this happened in the presence of the neighbour, whom I had requested to be present. While this search was going on, the armed policemen who accompanied the EFCC operatives positioned themselves at every corner outside my house and within the premises, leaving my neighbours wondering what could have been my offence.
At the end of the search, the operatives confiscated my two phones, my laptop, my mobile internet device (mifi), the complimentary cards in my possession, and other items that were clearly unrelated to the spurious offence that they were charging me with. The operatives then took a record of all the items that they had confiscated, hauled me into the Toyota bus, and took me to the EFCC Headquarters in Wuse 2, Abuja.
My Alleged Offence
When the men first came to knock on my door, they alleged that the Toyota Corrola car which belongs to my wife was a stolen car. This changed to what they called ‘offensive publication’ as indicated in the search warrant they produced, but when they eventually released a press statement on the same day of my arrest, they said I was being held for ‘Cyber Stalking.’
It is important to note that in all these, the EFCC failed to specify who or what I was ‘stalking.’ They didn’t even explain to me the details of the ‘cyber stalking’ allegation and what the specific crimes were and till this day, nobody has said anything to me in clear terms what my offence is. It was only at the moment they showed me the search warrant that I was able to deduce that my arrest was in regards to some publications that I had made on my blog abusidiqu.com particularly about the head of the anti-graft commission. The search warrant said ‘offensive publications against EFCC and its staff, but this is clearly not true. They were Ibrahim Lamorde and Ibrahim Magu who incidentally headed or heads the EFCC.
Since 2015, long before the current chairman, Ibrahim Magu was appointed to head the commission in acting capacity, abusidiqu.com published several articles bordering on alleged corruption and complaints by EFCC staff amongst many others. This information were very much in the public space and was not peculiar to abusidiqu.com alone. The searchlight beamed on Lamorde was also beamed on Magu and according to the persons who authored the publications, they saw the need to inform the public of what was happening under the Magu-led leadership of the commission. Contrary to the erroneous impression they may have tried to create, the publications were never about EFCC as an institution neither were they against the staff of the commission. They were about Lamorde and Magu in their individual capacity as heads of the commission.
What is even of more concern is that the EFCC knows that I did not author these publications. They know and have sufficient proofs of who the authors were. I only provided them the platform as a blogger to enable them air their concerns, the same way I have done to so many others including those who have written positively about Lamorde, Magu and the EFCC. Thankfully, one of the authors has come out boldly to say that she authored the articles.
I have asked times without number why Magu feels he should be a judge in his own case by using the EFCC to want to intimidate and harass people because he heads the commission. What has the EFCC got to do with publications that is about him as an individual? At best, the EFCC’s involvement should simply have been to investigate the issues raised by the authors in the articles that I published. If the organization is supposed to be acting on information provided by whistle blowers, is this not a perfect opportunity for the EFCC to investigate Magu, not minding that he is the head the commission? If these publications were to be about a junior staff of EFCC for example, will the commission also be the one to effect arrest on behalf the junior officer? For me, this is just a clear case of using privileged position for the purpose of harassment and intimidation.
My Stay In EFCC Detention
I spent about 36 hours in the custody of the EFCC. The better part of this time was spent during interrogation. They were practically asking me questions they already have answers to. They asked to know if the publications mostly dating back to 2015 were published on abusidiqu.com. They also showed me print outs of the emails which contained the information the authors of the publications sent to me requesting for publishing space. If they already know all this, then what was my arrest for? Perhaps, they wanted something more, reason why they are still keeping all the items they confiscated from my house. As I write this, the EFCC is still holding onto my phones, laptops, internet device and other unrelated documents. They told me clearly that they are going to subject them to forensic analysis which I believe is in breach of my privacy.
What Next
From the above narration, it is clear to me that Magu’s EFCC is in clear violation of the law. Aside granting me bail, they refused to say anything else and have continued to keep possession of my properties many of which contains my private information. So I proceeded to the court for the enforcement of my Fundamental Rights which the EFCC is in clear breach of. My lawyers have informed me that the commission has been duly served and we are now awaiting the court to commence the case.
Why Babangida’s Hilltop Home Became Nigeria’s Political “Mecca”.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s birthday visit to Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) in Minna (where he hailed the octogenarian as a patriotic leader committed to national unity) was more than a courtesy call. It was a reminder of a peculiar constant in Nigerian politics: the steady pilgrimage of power-seekers, bridge-builders and crisis-managers to the Hilltop mansion. Jonathan’s own words captured it bluntly: IBB’s residence “is like a Mecca of sorts” because of the former military president’s enduring relevance and perceived nation-first posture.
Babangida turned 84 on 17 August 2025. That alone invites reflection on a career that has shaped Nigeria’s political architecture for four decades; admired by some for audacious statecraft, condemned by others for controversies that still shadow the republic. Born on 17 August 1941 in Minna, he ruled as military president from 1985 to 1993, presiding over transformative and turbulent chapters: the relocation of the national capital to Abuja in 1991; the creation of political institutions for a long, complex transition; economic liberalisation that cut both ways; and the fateful annulment of the 12 June 1993 election. Each of these choices helps explain why the Hilltop remains a magnet for Nigerians who need counsel, cover or calibration.
A house built on influence; why the visits never stop.
Let’s start with the obvious: access. Nigeria’s political class prizes proximity to the men and women who can open doors, soften opposition, broker peace and read the hidden currents. In that calculus, IBB’s network is unmatched. He cultivated a reputation for “political engineering,” the reason the press christened him “Maradona” (for deft dribbling through complexity) and “Evil Genius” (for the strategic cunning his critics decried). Whether one embraces or rejects those labels, they reflect a reality: Babangida is still the place where many politicians go to test ideas, seek endorsements or secure introductions. Even the mainstream press has described him as a consultant of sorts to desperate or ambitious politicians, an uncomfortable description that nevertheless underlines his gravitational pull.
Though it isn’t only political tact that draws visitors; it’s statecraft with lasting fingerprints. Moving the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja in December 1991 was not a cosmetic relocation, it re-centred the federation and signaled a symbolic neutrality in a country fractured by regional suspicion. Abuja’s founding logic (GEOGRAPHIC CENTRALITY and ETHNIC NEUTRALITY) continues to stabilise the national imagination. This is part of the reason many leaders, across party lines, still defer to IBB: he didn’t just rule; he rearranged the map of power.
Then there’s the regional dimension. Under his watch, Nigeria led the creation and deployment of ECOMOG in 1990 to staunch Liberia’s bloody civil war, a bold move that announced Abuja as a regional security anchor. The intervention was imperfect, contested and costly, but it helped define West Africa’s collective security posture and Nigeria’s leadership brand. When neighboring states now face crises, the memory of that precedent still echoes in diplomatic corridors and Babangida’s counsel retains currency among those who remember how decisions were made.
Jonathan’s praise and the unity argument.
Jonathan’s tribute (stressing Babangida’s non-sectional outlook and commitment to unity) goes to the heart of the Hilltop mystique. For a multi-ethnic federation straining under distrust, figures who can speak across divides are prized. Jonathan’s point wasn’t nostalgia; it was a live assessment of a man many still call when Nigeria’s seams fray. That’s why the parade to Minna continues: the anxious, the ambitious and the statesmanlike alike seek an elder who can convene rivals and cool temperatures.
The unresolved shadow: June 12 and the ethics of influence.
No honest appraisal can skip the hardest chapter: the annulment of the 12 June 1993 election (judged widely as free and fair) was a rupture that delegitimised the transition and scarred Nigeria’s democratic journey. Political scientist Larry Diamond has repeatedly identified June 12 as a prime example of how authoritarian reversals corrode democratic legitimacy and public trust. His larger warning (“few developments are more destructive to the legitimacy of new democracies than blatant and pervasive political corruption”) captures the moral crater that followed the annulment and the years of drift that ensued. Those wounds are part of the Babangida legacy too and they complicate the reverence that a steady stream of visitors displays.
Max Siollun, a leading historian of Nigeria’s military era, has observed (provocatively) that the military’s “greatest contribution” to democracy may have been to rule “long and badly enough” that Nigerians lost appetite for soldiers in power. It’s a stinging line, yet it helps explain the paradox of IBB’s status: the same system he personified taught Nigeria costly lessons that hardened its democratic reflexes. Today’s generation visits the Hilltop not to revive militarism but to harvest hard-won insights about managing a fragile federation.
What sustains the pilgrimage.
1) Institutional memory: Nigeria’s politics often suffers amnesia. Babangida offers a living archive of security crises navigated, regional diplomacy attempted, volatile markets tempered and power-sharing experiments designed. Whether one applauds or condemns specific choices, the muscle memory of governing a complex federation is rare and urgently sought.
2) Convening power: In a season of polarisation, the ability to sit warring factions in the same room is not small capital. Babangida’s imprimatur remains a safe invitation card few refuse it, fewer ignore it. That convening power explains why movements, parties and would-be presidents keep filing up the long driveway. Recent delegations have explicitly cast their courtesy calls in the language of unity, loyalty and patriotism ahead of pivotal elections.
3) Signals to the base: Visiting Minna telegraphs seriousness to party structures and funders. It says: “I have sought counsel where history meets experience.” In Nigeria’s coded political theatre, that signal still matters. Outlets have reported for years that many aspirants treat the Hilltop as an obligatory stop an unflattering reality, perhaps, but a revealing one.
4) The man and the myth: The mansion itself, with its opulence and aura, has become a set piece in Nigeria’s story of power, admired by some, resented by others, but always discussed. The myth feeds the pilgrimage; the pilgrimage feeds the myth.
The balance sheet at 84.
To treat Babangida solely as a sage is to forget the costs of his era; to treat him only as a villain is to ignore the architecture that still holds parts of Nigeria together. Abuja’s relocation stands as a stabilising bet that paid off. ECOMOG, for all its flaws, seeded a habit of regional responsibility. Conversely, June 12 remains a national cautionary tale about elite manipulation, civilian marginalisation and the brittleness of transitions managed from above. These are not contradictory truths; they are the double helix of Babangida’s place in Nigerian memory.
Jonathan’s homage tried to distill the better angel of IBB’s record: MENTORSHIP, BRIDGE-BUILDING and a POSTURE that (at least in his telling) RESISTS SECTIONAL ISM. “That is why today, his house is like a Mecca of sorts,” he said, praying that the GENERAL continues to “mentor the younger ones.” Whether one agrees with the full sentiment, it accurately describes the lived politics of Nigeria today: Minna remains a checkpoint on the road to relevance.
The scholar’s verdict and a citizen’s challenge.
If Diamond warns about legitimacy and Siollun warns about the perils of soldier-politics, what should Nigerians demand from the Hilltop effect? Three things.
First, use influence to open space, not close it. Counsel should tilt toward rules, institutions and credible elections not kingmaking for its own sake. The lesson of 1993 is that subverting a valid vote haunts a nation for decades.
Second, mentor for unity, but insist on accountability. Unity cannot be a euphemism for silence. A truly patriotic elder statesman sets a high bar for conduct and condemns the shortcuts that tempt new actors in old ways. Diamond’s admonition on corruption is not an abstraction; it’s a roadmap for rebuilding trust.
Third, convert nostalgia into institutional memory. If Babangida’s house is a classroom, then Nigeria should capture, publish and debate its lessons in the open: on peace operations (what worked, what failed), on capital relocation (how to plan at scale), and on transitions (how not to repeat 1993). Only then does the pilgrimage serve the republic rather than personalities.
At 84, Ibrahim Babangida remains a paradox that Nigeria cannot ignore: a man whose legacy straddles NATION-BUILDING and NATION-BRUISING, whose doors remain open to those seeking power and those seeking peace. Jonathan’s visit (and his striking “Mecca” metaphor) reveals a simple, stubborn fact: in a country still searching for steady hands, the Hilltop’s shadow is long. The task before Nigeria is to ensure that the shadow points toward a brighter constitutional daybreak, where influence is finally subordinated to institutions and where mentorship hardens into norms that no single mansion can monopolise. That is the only pilgrimage worth making.
Ajadi Celebrates Juju Legend Femolancaster’s 50th Birthday in the UK
Nigerian Juju music legend, Otunba Femi Fadipe, popularly known as FemoLancaster, is being celebrated today in London as he clocks 50 years of age.
Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, a frontline politician and businessman, led tributes to the Ilesa-born maestro, describing him as a timeless cultural icon whose artistry has enriched both Nigeria and the world.
“FemoLancaster is not just a musician, he is a legend,” Ambassador Ajadi said in his birthday message. “For decades, his classical Juju sound has remained a reminder of the beauty of Yoruba heritage. Today, as he turns 50, I celebrate a cultural ambassador whose music bridges generations and continents.”
While FemoLancaster is highly dominant in Oyo State and across the South-West, his craft has also taken him beyond Nigeria’s borders.
FemoLancaster’s illustrious career has seen him thrill audiences across Nigeria and beyond, with performances in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, and other parts of the world. His dedication to Juju music has projected Yoruba traditional sounds to international stages, keeping alive the legacy of icons like King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey while infusing fresh energy for younger audiences
He further stressed the significance of honoring artistes who have remained faithful to indigenous music while taking it global. “In an era where modern sounds often overshadow tradition, FemoLancaster stands as a beacon of continuity and resilience. He has carried Yoruba Juju music into the global space with dignity, passion, and excellence,” he added.
The golden jubilee celebration in London has drawn fans, friends, and colleagues, who all describe FemoLancaster as a gifted artist whose contributions over decades have earned him a revered place in the pantheon of Nigerian music legends.
“As FemoLancaster marks this milestone,” Ajadi concluded, “I wish him many more years of good health, wisdom, and global recognition. May his music continue to echo across generations and continents.”
celebrity radar - gossips
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
By Aderounmu Kazeem Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria — The gospel music scene is aglow today as the “Duchess of Gospel Music,” Esther Igbekele, marks another milestone in her life, celebrating her birthday on Saturday, August 16, 2025.
Known for her powerful voice, inspirational lyrics, and unwavering dedication to spreading the gospel through music, Esther Igbekele has become one of Nigeria’s most respected and beloved gospel artistes. Over the years, she has graced countless stages, released hit albums, and inspired audiences across the world with her uplifting songs.
Today’s celebration is expected to be a joyful blend of music, prayers, and heartfelt tributes from family, friends, fans, and fellow artistes. Sources close to the singer revealed that plans are in place for a special praise gathering in Lagos, where she will be joined by notable figures in the gospel industry, church leaders, and admirers from home and abroad.
Speaking ahead of the day, Igbekele expressed deep gratitude to God for His mercy and the opportunity to use her gift to touch lives. “Every birthday is a reminder of God’s faithfulness in my journey. I am thankful for life, for my fans, and for the privilege to keep ministering through music,” she said.
From her early beginnings in the Yoruba gospel music scene to her rise as a celebrated recording artiste with a unique fusion of contemporary and traditional sounds, Esther Igbekele’s career has been marked by consistency, excellence, and a strong message of hope.
As she adds another year today, her fans have flooded social media with messages of love, appreciation, and prayers — a testament to the profound impact she continues to make in the gospel music ministry.
For many, this birthday is not just a celebration of Esther Igbekele’s life, but also of the divine inspiration she brings to the Nigerian gospel music landscape.
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