Less than 24 hours after he was granted administrative bail by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos lawyer, Rickey Tarfa (SAN) yesterday approached the Federal High Court, Lagos, asking the court to compel the anti-graft agency and its Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Mustapha Magu, to pay him N2.5 billion. He was accompanied by 32 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by the former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun.

Apart from the monetary compensation, Tarfa also asked the court to compel the defendants to release his two mobile handsets deceitfully collected from him on Friday, February, 5 2016, at their Ikoyi office in Lagos to the court for the purpose of destructing of all information, data and other retrievable materials stored in the two handsets.

He also sought an order by the court to direct the defendants, which include Moses Awolusi, the operatives that illegally arrested him and the Deputy Director Operations, EFCC, Lagos office, Iliyasu Kwarbai, to release his Mercedes Benz SUV with registration No. KJA 700CG unlawfully seized from him.

The Senior Advocate equally asked the court to order EFCC, Magu and two other defendants to publicly apologise to him in at least two widely circulated national newspapers, social media and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) as well as Channels Television within 24 hours from the day of the judgment of the suit. Besides, he asked for an order of perpetual injunction restraining all the defendants and their agents from further violating his rights apart from the payment of N20 million for the cost of this suit.

The 52-paragraph affidavit in support of the suit was sworn to by the Head of Rickey Tarfa Chambers, Mr. John Olusegun Odubela, who narrated the genesis of Tarfa’s ordeal as a witness to what he called the Gestapo tactics employed by the anti-graft agency.

No date has been fixed for the hearing.

•Photo shows EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu.

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