Fake CSP, cleric among alleged invaders of Odili’s home

Fourteen suspects, including a fake Chief Superintendent of Police(CSP), Lawrence Ajodo, who laid siege to the Abuja home of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili were yesterday paraded by the Police.

Ajodo described himself as a consultant on recoveries to the Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. He was found with Police and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) identity cards.

Malami has, however, distanced himself from the fake police officer and alleged mastermind of the October 29 siege.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike condemned the invasion, alleging that the Federal Government is intimidating the judiciary ahead of 2023 elections.

Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Frank Mba, who paraded the suspects at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Headquarters, Area 10, Abuja, said seven other suspects, including two soldiers, are still at large.

Mba said the suspects with different professional backgrounds were members of a criminal syndicate that operated as law enforcement officers. One of them is a herbalist and an Islamic prayer warrior, Ali Ibrahim. A journalist, Stanley Nkwaezema, was also among those paraded.

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The FPRO, who described the suspects as “loose cannons and document forgers”, said they conspired to raid Odili’s residence on learning that the jurist had foreign currencies.

He commended the resistance by the security personnel deployed in Odili’s home for not allowing the suspects access to the premises.

Mba said it would have been a huge embarrassment to the country if the suspects had succeeded.

Ajodo confessed that he was not a policeman, does not work with the EFCC, and was not detailed by anyone for the botched task.

He also admitted to having forged Malami’s signature on the EFCC identity card found on him.

His words: ”I work for Malami as a consultant on recoveries. There are five of us. I was given 18 accounts to recover, though Malami did not send me to this mission. I am a banking expert with a specialty in finance and forensic.”

Ajodo also claimed that there was a mix-up during the siege, adding that the search warrant they obtained from a chief magistrate’s court was “supposed to be for No 9 but it read No 7.”

The herbalist, who served as the syndicate’s whistleblower, said he was contracted by Justice Odili’s godson, whose name he did not give.

Ibrahim confessed that after he conducted prayers and got a revelation that there was money in Odili’s residence, he proceeded to swear an affidavit to that effect at the office of the EFCC.

He claimed that Ajodo diverted the affidavit to the Ministry of Justice and later led a team on a surveillance mission to Odili’s residence before the siege.

Ibrahim said: ”I am the whistleblower and I swore an affidavit that millions of money were stashed in that house. I was introduced as an Islamic prayer warrior to the godson of Justice Odili and I prayed there on October 13. I prayed to know if the story that there was money in the house was true.

“So, after the prayers, I decided to go through the EFCC as a formal channel and I was interviewed and interrogated.

“However, I ended up in the Ministry of Justice because Ajodo told me it was the same thing; that the EFCC is under the ministry.

“We went for surveillance before the raid. I took him (Ajodo) to the address and directed them to Justice Odili’s house.”

Nkwazema, who described himself as a Contributing Editor with ThisDay, said he was following a lead on recovery of assets brought to him by one of the suspects, Alex Onyekwere, a lawyer.

He said he followed the lead for three days before joining the team for the raid. However, he claimed he did not enter the premises.

In a statement shortly after the parade, Malami described Ajodo claim as “an orchestrated attempt to stir unnecessary controversies and public apprehension.”

He urged the Police and other relevant security agencies to get to the root of the siege to Odili’s home.

“This is a case of a drowning man scavenging for a dying partner. We are happy to note that investigation has commenced to unravel the circumstances and personalities behind the invasion and sponsored,” he said in a statement by his spokesman, Umar Gwandu.

The statement added: ”It only takes the imagination of evil minds to assume or think that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will descend so low to engage a quack or fake police officer to serve as his consultant.

“This is a case of a drowning man scavenging for a dying partner. We are happy to note that investigation has commenced to unravel the circumstances and personalities behind the invasion and sponsored campaign of calumny against the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

“We ask the suspect to present documents of engagements where he worked as a consultant to the Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, whether in past or now.

Also, THISDAY said in a statement by its Managing Editor, Bolaji Adebiyi, that Nkwazema was neither its staff member nor a contributing editor.

It added that Nkwazema resigned more than 15 years ago after serving as one its Sports correspondents.

The statement reads: “The attention of the management of THISDAY Newspapers has been drawn to the news making the rounds that Mr. Stanley Nkwazema, one of those suspected to have invaded the home of Justice Mary Odili claimed to be a staff and Contributing Editor of THISDAY.

“Contrary to his claim, Mr. Nkwazema is neither a staff member of THISDAY nor a contributing editor. He was a Sports correspondent and resigned more than 15 years ago.

“However, occasionally, he, like hundreds of other readers of the newspaper, sends for publication articles and analyses and is usually obliged, a privilege ThisDay gives to some of its ex-staff members. That does not in any way make him a staff member and Contributing Editor of THISDAY.

“Since his resignation, THISDAY had at no time contracted Mr. Nkwazema to investigate any story, and we know nothing of his alleged investigation of a story leading to the raid of the residence of Hon. Justice Odili.

“The police authorities and the general public should therefore note that Mr. Nkwazema, whatever may be his involvement in this matter, was not on any reportorial assignment in any shape or form on behalf of THISDAY.”

The Nation