Socialite, Ismaila Mustapha, also known as Mompha, who is facing money laundering charges, has sued Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for his “unlawful re-arrest and detention.”
MDB had reported that Mompha, who is facing N32bn fraud charges, after his release in July 2019 was re-arrested last Friday when he went to the EFCC office in Ikoyi, Lagos state to reclaim items seized from him by the anti-graft agency since 2019.
Read Also: Money Laundering: EFCC Re-Arrests Mompha
Mompha’s visit followed a July 24 ruling by Justice Mohammed Liman ordering the release of the seized items on the grounds that the EFCC did not list them as exhibits in court.
Read Also: Court Orders EFCC To Return Mompha’s Passport, Wrist Watches And IPhone
In the suit filed against EFCC by his lawyer, Gboyega Oyewole on Tuesday, Mompha prayed the court to declare his re-arrest and detention by the EFCC as unjustifiable and unlawful.
He urged the court to declare that the continued seizure of the items violated his right to own property under Section 44 of the constitution.
Mompha also prayed the court to order EFCC to release him, give back his seized items and also pay him N5m as damages.
A litigation officer in the office of his lawyer, Kayode Adeboye, described Mompha’s arrest was baseless, saying he was granted bail by the court in July 2019 and he never absconded.
According to Adeboye, in line with the bail conditions, Mompha had been reporting at the EFCC office fortnightly without defaulting.
However, the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr Dele Oyewale, said Mompha’s re-arrest was connected to a fresh set of cyber fraud charges.
The court was yet to fix a date to hear Mompha’s N5m suit, as at the time of filing this report.
