Some youth of Igbo extraction took to the streets of Enugu on Wednesday in protest against the alleged “persecution” of Patience Jonathan by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
According to The Punch the protesters, under the aegis of Concerned Igbo Youths demanded that the accounts of Mrs. Jonathan be unfrozen.
The group, led by its coordinator, Victor Ezenagu, marched to the Enugu office of the EFCC, where they submitted a petition to the South-East zonal head of the commission, Mr. Johnson Babalola.
In the petition entitled, ‘Unjust persecution and desperate plan to humiliate former President Goodluck Jonathan,’ the youth said the EFCC was out to humiliate Mrs. Jonathan.
The petition read in part, “While we salute the commitment of the present administration towards fighting corruption in the country, we express our disaffection to the manner the war is being prosecuted by the commission under your watch.
“Some of the actions of the commission in recent time leave no one in doubt that certain persons have clearly been singled out to be humiliated.
“A case in point is that of a former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC. We see the freezing of her personal accounts and ongoing prosecution as an attempt to discredit former President Goodluck Jonathan.”
The petition further read, “It is quite condemnable that having sacrificed his ambition for the sake of Nigeria’s future, Jonathan’s family is being visited with such cruelty from the commission.
“We say this because Mrs. Jonathan is not the first person to have occupied the office of First Lady in Nigeria. Yet, none of the other former occupants of that office is under probe, let alone trial.
“Following from the above, it is also not out of place to state that the current administration is indirectly prosecuting and persecuting Jonathan.
“We are sending a clear message that this unjust persecution, under whatever guise, will not be tolerated against a family that sacrificed so much for this country.”
In his response Babalola said the Commission is not witch-hunting the former first family as he urged the youth to partner with it to rid the nation of corruption.
“The EFCC is not embarking on a witch-hunt of the former first family or anybody else as you said in your petition. The commission is only trying to rescue the nation; what we are doing is in the interest of the nation.”
Dolapo is a writer and journalist who works with YNaija. He has interests in Christianity, politics and sports.
Comment: if the efcc are to do a well done job all holders of public offices both present and former should be investigated not minding weather they are christians or muslems.weather from south south,north east,north central ,south east or south west or midle belt.let the efcc do their work without bias.