Ezekiel Awojide, Abuja
A former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, said he was denied bail by the Federal Government with the hope of silencing him.
Yusuf, a critic of the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government, was arraigned in February by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for purported fraud.
He, however, denied the allegation when he was brought before Chinyere Nwecheonwu, judge of a federal capital territory high court.
Speaking on Arise TV on Sunday, Yusuf said that his detention was orchestrated to bully him and abate his firmness against government actions.
Rather than being weakened, he said the time he spent in Kuje prison, Abuja was a “retreat for rest, prayers, and reflection
He said, “On the 29th of January this year, at about 6:30 PM, my wife came up to my room and said there were some gentlemen who knocked and just walked into the house. They walked in through the door and said they wanted to see me, claiming I was expecting them.
“They said they were from the EFCC and had come to take me. I said, ‘Guys, you haven’t even introduced yourselves.’ They quickly brought out their badges and confirmed they were from the EFCC.”
To break him, he alleged that EFCC operatives did not allow him to change his clothes. He also said they stopped his wife from bringing him a change of clothing, saying the operatives were behaving “as if they had captured a notorious criminal like Kachalla Bello Turji.”
Apart from the six days he claimed he spent in the custody of the EFCC, he also said that he was denied bail, which made him 24 days in Kuje prison.
“The denial of bail was wrong. Bail is a constitutionally guaranteed right for any accused person, except in cases of capital offences or terrorism, and my case was neither.
“This government deliberately denied me bail to shake me up. I spent six days at the EFCC and 24 days in Kuje prison — all to try and silence me. But I am not someone who can be silenced.
“The whole purpose was the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu trying to silence any form of dissent.
“This is coming from a president who himself was once a NADECO activist — someone who fought against the military, who ran across the border, and fled to safety.”
“Criticising a government in a democracy is the legitimate right of every citizen. But now, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is trying to stifle dissent and turn Nigeria into a one-party dictatorial state. We are not going to let that happen,” he added.
