A Nigerian pastor identified as Onyinmiebi and his wife Beatrice Bribena who were declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) has said they never received any invitation for questioning or interrogation before they were declared wanted.
It was reported that Pastor Oyinmiebi Bribena, the president of Baraza Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (BMCSL), and his wife, Beatrice were on Saturday, June 11th declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly defrauding Nigerians to the tune of N2Billion
The statement was signed by the Head, Media and Publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwujuren.
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Reacting to the declaration, Bribena, who is also a pastor in a popular church told the Nation: “We did not receive an invitation letter from the EFCC and were not aware of any summons or pending charge against us by the EFCC.
“It is therefore surprising that the commission will go to such length to damage our reputation and make me and my family go through ‘media trial’.”
He said the EFCC had no right to interfere in disputes between members of the cooperative society, considering the provisions of the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act of 2004. Adding that the anti-graft agency did not invite them for interrogation before declaring them wanted.
He further stated that some members of the cooperative society had approved that the cooperative traded with their contributions at an Online Foreign Exchange Market for monthly returns, which ran smoothly until the unfortunate events where most of the funds were lost in the market.
But despite the loss, he has been making efforts to recover and refund members their contribution as authorised by the general meeting of the cooperative, but the actions of the EFCC had constituted a spoke in the wheel of progress.
Brianna, who assured contributors, pleaded they remain calm, adding that all hope was not lost, and stated that he would not relent in the efforts being made to clear his name.
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