Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday swooped on the Enugu home of Innocent Chukwuma, Chairman of Innoson Motors, and effected his arrest.
Accounts say the EFCC operatives and other heavily armed policemen arrived the residence of the IVM owner at Savage Crescent, GRA, Enugu at about 7:30am and took him him away.
Security men at the residence of Chukwuma had initially refused the EFCC operatives entry, a development that led to the firing of teargas by the policemen from the EFCC.
The operatives, it was gathered later succeeded in gaining access to the building after overpowering Chukwuma’s security men and arrested him.
A spokesperson for the company, Cornel Osigwe, that Mr. Chukwuma was arrested at his residence in Enugu around 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
“His arrest is in connection to the ongoing case he has with GTBank,” Mr. Osigwe said by telephone. Mr. Osigwe said his principal was accused of jumping bail, wondering how someone who was never invited by the EFCC much less being arrested would be accused of fleeing from the law.
The company in a series of tweets via @innosonmotors disclosed that its Chairman-CEO was arrested without prior invitation.
Innoson accused GTB of being behind the arrest, an allegation the bank denied.
The company wrote , “GTB vs Innoson ‘illegal Arrest’ hundreds of factory workers from Innoson factory, Emene Enugu protests the illegal bundling of Innoson CEO to Lagos by EFCC organised by GTB.
“Like a commando style, GTB uses EFCC to storm Innoson’s Enugu Residential home to bundle him to Lagos like a common criminal without any prior invitation.
In November, the company said the police had withdrawn the charges against Chukwuma.
The dispute between the company and GTB began in 2012.
According to Osigwe, “He(Mr. Chukwuma) was never invited by the EFCC, we challenge them to come forward with any evidence showing that he jumped bail,” Mr. Osigwe said. “This is GTBank using federal authorities to persecute an illustrious citizen who has done a lot to improve the economic development of this country.”
The EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, offered no comment, saying said he had not been briefed about the arrest when reached for comments.
A spokesperson for GTBank, Meksley Nwagboh, denied the bank’s involvement in the arrest.
He was quoted in a report by PREMIUM TIMES as saying that if the “EFCC arrested him they will be in a best position to comment on the reason for his arrest.”
Innoson Group has accused GTBank of being indebted to the indigenous auto manufacturing company up to N8.5 billion in a series of damages that stemmed from illegal service deductions by the bank.
An initial fraud case brought against Mr. Chukwuma was withdrawn earlier this year.
But the Attorney-General Abubakar Malami revived the case at the Federal High Court in Abuja as GTBank maintains its allegations that Mr. Chukwuma manipulated bank and shipping documents to obtain tax waivers from the Nigerian government
