THE manner and place of arrest of the ailing chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, Dr Wale Babalakin by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday, are attracting controversies.
The commission charged him for laundering N3.4 billion for the jailed former Delta State governor, James Ibori.
While it was tagged an abduction from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where he had been hospitalised for about three weeks by certain sources, the commission had denied abducting him, but confirmed the arrest.
Operatives of the commission had laid siege to the private wing of the hospital and at a point, moved to forcibly take him away, before a court ruling aborted the plan.
Commission’s spokesperson, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, told the Nigerian Tribune that Babalakin was arrested on Monday morning but granted conditional administrative bail which he was moving to fulfil at the time of the conversation.
According to him, “there is nothing like abduction. Yes, he was arrested this morning but he was offered administrative bail which he is in the process of fulfilling. If he can fulfil the conditions today, then he would go home. Nobody abducted anybody.”
A commission source told the Nigerian Tribune that the understanding between the commission and Babalakin that led to the imminent temporary freedom was at the instance of the ailing businessman, whose camp reportedly reached out to another senior lawyer on the prosecution team to help in facilitating the deal.
The senior lawyer told the Nigerian Tribune that it was Babalakin, through his lawyer, Wale Akoni, that reached out to him, appealing that he should help in getting the commission to release him on administrative bail.
The senior lawyer further disclosed that he decided to help on compassionate ground by facilitating the deal which saw the accused leaving LUTH on his own, deliberately walking into the waiting hands of the operatives watching over him before being detained at the Ikoyi facility of the commission.
The detention, according to the senior lawyer, was to be a prelude to his release on administrative bail yesterday, though Uwujaren said he was yet to meet the bail conditions as of the time he spoke with the Nigerian Tribune at about 5.45 p.m.
The senior lawyer who was taken aback by the abduction theory asked the Nigerian Tribune to give him time to contact Babalakin’s camp to know where the abduction story was emanating from and when contacted later, he said the accused lawyer dissociated his client from the abduction theory.
According to him, “I just spoke with Akoni and he even appreciated the full cooperation they (Babalakin’s camp) got from the EFCC through my intervention. So, that is why I am surprised by this abduction story.”
When contacted, the management of LUTH gave credence to the story of the senior prosecution by saying that Babalakin was properly discharged before the said arrest, putting a question mark on the abduction report.
The Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mrs Hope Nwawolo, told the Nigerian Tribune that the accused was properly discharged by the doctors attending to him.
Nigerian Tribune confirmed at exactly 6.46 p.m that Babalakin had breathed an air of freedom, by meeting with his bail conditions.
With the new development, the accused, who had lost two moves to stop his arraignment, would celebrate Christmas at home.
Justice Adeniji Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court had fixed January 17 for Babalakin’s arraignment, after two botched efforts, which were due to suits by him at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, seeking to stop the planned arraignment.
The suits were thrown out by the trial judges.
Another version of the arrest story told by a source close to Babalakin disputed the arrest theory, saying that after his discharge by LUTH, he went to the EFCC’s office by himself to forestall stories of him absconding.
The source claimed that when Babalakin got to the Ikoyi office of the commission, the place was near empty and that the few operatives on the ground had to start calling themselves.
“The arrest story is just for the EFCC to shine. It is the handiwork of Wilson (EFCC’s spokesperson). Oga (Babalakin) went there (Ikoyi facility) so that they would not start saying he had run away. I can confirm to you he had left the place. Do you arrest a man already charged to court? He is already on administrative bail and needed not seeking another,” the source, who wanted anonymity because his boss had not mandated him to speak officially, stated.
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