Bankole demands apology from EFCC for ‘public humiliation’ (Page 5)

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to apologise to him for the public humiliation and denial of personal liberty the anti-graft agency has caused him.
Bankole equally said on Thursday that the EFCC should apologise to him for “unlawful detention and discomfort to his person and family since Sunday, June 5, 2011.”The embattled ex-speaker equally contended that no court had the jurisdiction to try him for anything done while carrying out his official duties as the Speaker.
The embattled former Speaker stated this in an application filed by his lawyer, Mr. Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), to quash the charges of illegally obtaining N37.7bn loan leveled against him before Justice Suleiman Belgore of an Abuja High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The apology, he stated, was hinged on the facts that the accused/applicant has been condemned, vilified, demoralised and branded a villain in the public domain as the charges against him were leaked by the Prosecution to the public before arraignment and after arraignment the Prosecuting Counsel granted television interviews where he condemned the Accused/Applicant.
He claimed that the suffered deliberate harassment, intimidation, indignity, humiliation and persecution instead of prosecution when the bail granted him by the Federal High Court on June 13, 2011 was rendered ineffective by the adoption of serial prosecution.
“The EFCC acted maliciously, recklessly and with impunity in the manner it treated the accused/applicant before and during the arraignments,” he added.