Dame Patience: Reps ask NDLEA to identify informants

By Joshua Egbodo Abuja

House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions has directed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), to furnish it with identities of informants that gave the tip-off leading the raid it carried out on a property of former fi rst lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. Th e committee at its investigative hearing’ following an earlier petition by Mrs. Jonathan, who accused some government agencies of harassments, also invited the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the Nigerian Police to appear as defendants on the matter.

Th e NDLEA, represented by a director in the agency, Femi Oloruntoba explained to the lawmakers that his agency got a tip-off from a source he, however did not named, to the eff ect that the property located at Igbeti Rock Street’ Maitama Abuja was being used for drug related operations. “Based on the information, eight offi cers of my agency visited the premises, after surveillance was conducted on the premises. It is not true that 50 offi cers from my agency visited the premises”, he said, adding that the offi cer who met two occupants of the premises provided them with a search endorsement form, which they signed to confi rm that the search was conducted without any damage to the property, or loss of items.

When queried on how the agency remedies its action where it breaks into a premises as alleged, and do not fi nd anything incriminating, he said the agency never knew that the premises belonged to the former fi rst lady, adding that a letter was written by a solicitor on behalf of a man who claimed to be the owner of the premises. Th e Uzoma Nkem-Abonta committee subsequently demanded that the NDLEA should provide it with the identity of the said source before the next adjourned date of September 19, 2019.

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