On March 22, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled in favour of Nasiru Saidu Ali, a photographer based in Jos, who was wrongfully detained as a fraudster by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Donatus Okorowo, the presiding judge, awarded Ali N5 million in damages and instructed the EFCC to remove his images from their social media pages on accounts that they were defamatory. The judge also ruled that the EFCC should publicly apologise to Ali.
But nearly a year after the ruling and five years after the injustice, the EFCC has ignored the judgment.
TROUBLE IN ABUJA: HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Ali’s ordeal started like any other gig. He had been invited in May 2019 to document an album-making process in Abuja by a group of musicians. He arrived at a duplex that served as a studio and got to work. For two days, the project went smoothly until the early hours of Friday, May 17.
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At exactly 5 in the morning, EFCC officials scaled the fence of the studio, broke into the house and began to bark orders. Phones and laptops were confiscated and accusations were hurled indiscriminately.
“I told them I was just there for work but they didn’t believe me. They thought everyone else was covering for me.” Ali recalled.
The operatives of the EFCC, true to their reputation, had beaten Ali and the other occupants of the make-shift studio. A frantic Ali, scared for his recording gadgets, was even pepper-sprayed by an official for daring to look and ask questions.
By 9 am, he and everyone in the house were marched to the EFCC’s zonal office, where, as Ali recalled, the real problem began.
He told FIJ that he was forced to hand over access to his email and bank accounts and he endured hours of interrogation. But despite finding no incriminating evidence, the photographer was detained until Monday, March 20, where his dignity was left to erode.
PUBLIC STAIN: THE INTERNET THAT WILL NEVER FORGET
After enduring three days of illegal detention, Ali was released, thanks to his surety from the National Assembly who had stood as a guarantor. But the EFCC was not done with him.
Hours before his release, the agency had posted Ali’s photograph on their social media platforms branding him an internet fraudster, alongside other occupants of the building.
As expected, the post spread like wildfire. Blogs and newspapers like Nairaland, PM News and the Linda Ikeji blog had republished and potentially immortalised the false story that he is a criminal. But when Ali confronted the EFCC, the response he got was mockery.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“I felt like my life was over before I could even defend myself. When I went to their office, they mocked me,” he recounted.
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Determined to clear his name, the photographer took to his social media pages to issue a public disclaimer. This singular act led to a cascade of events that got him a legal acquittal in 2024.
When Ali put out the disclaimer on May 27, 2019, Pelumi Olajengbesi, a lawyer moved by the injustice contacted him and agreed to help him get justice pro bono. Together, they filed a lawsuit in 2019, accusing the EFCC of defamation and gross violations of his human rights.
The courtroom struggle was relentless. The EFCC routinely delayed proceedings. Ali told FIJ that EFCC representatives failed to appear in court on multiple occasions. He did not get the freeing words of acquittal until five years after injustice was meted out to him
On March 22, 2024, the Federal High Court declared the EFCC’s actions unconstitutional and unlawful. The court ordered the agency to pay N5 million in damages, publicly apologise, and remove Ali’s photos from their platforms. A perpetual injunction barred the EFCC from ever repeating such acts.
“I asked for N100 million, but they gave me N5 million,” the photographer said. “It wasn’t everything, but it felt like a win.”
JUSTICE WAS DELAYED AND EVEN DENIED
The feeling of euphoria that Ali and his lawyer felt was short-lived. It has been about a year since the court ruled in his favour but the EFCC has ignored the ruling.
When FIJ checked, the defamatory post was online. Ali’s image, the same as posted at the time of his arrest, remains on the EFCC’s Instagram page. FIJ also noticed that the EFCC has not published a statement of apology to Aliyu, despite the order from the court.
Most importantly, Ali told FIJ that he had not received any N5 million compensation, despite the court’s ruling. The consequences of their inaction have been devastating to the photographer.
“After the incident, I couldn’t work for six months. I was depressed,” he said.
“Even when clients called, they’d cancel when they found out I was ‘that guy’ from the EFCC’s post.”
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Recovery has been painstakingly slow for Aliyu. He tries to move forward, one photo at a time. But the stigma lingers.
“They told me no one fights the government and wins,” the photographer said, his voice steady, a faint smile breaking across his face. “But I won. Now, they just need to honour it.”
FIJ called Dele Oyewale, the spokesperson of the EFCC, on Thursday to get an explanation for the agency’s refusal to comply with court orders. But the spokesperson was not reachable. He was yet to respond to messages at press time.
The post Against Court Order, EFCC Refuses to Remove Defamatory Post, Compensate Photographer Falsely Tagged Fraudster appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.