Igbo
youths took to the streets of Enugu on Wednesday in protest against the alleged
“persecution” of Patience Jonathan by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission.
Some
bank accounts, reportedly belonging to the wife of former President Goodluck
Jonathan had been frozen by the anti-graft agency.
The
protesters, under the aegis of Concerned Igbo Youths, said Patience’s travail
was an attempt to humiliate the former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Brandishing
placards and chanting solidarity songs, 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.
Some
youths also protested in front of the Enugu State Government House.
In
the petition entitled, ‘Unjust persecution and desperate plan to humiliate former
President Goodluck Jonathan,’ the youths demanded an immediate unfreezing of
Patience Jonathan’s accounts.
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
youths said they were miffed that Jonathan was being victimised by the EFCC,
even after sacrificing his ambition “for the sake of the country’s future.”
The
petition also 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.”
The
protesters further alleged that the former First Lady was being persecuted for
being Igbo.
“The
Igbo youths are, therefore, demanding that every action against her should be
suspended as we are ready to take this mass action higher if our demands are
not met.”
But
responding after receiving a copy of the petition, the EFCC South-East zonal
head, Babalola, said the matter was already before the court.
He
urged the youths to redirect their protest to the appropriate quarters.
Babalola
equally appealed to the youths to partner the EFCC to rid the country 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,” Babalola told the youths.
Source:Punch
Tags
Society