IKOYI CASH: Magu lied, my client abandoned, ‘living from hand to mouth’- Whistleblower’s lawyer

Lawyer to the whistleblower whose information led to the recovery of N13 billion from Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, has countered claims by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that his client has been duly compensated for his valuable tip-off.

Yakubu Galadima who claims to be counsel to the unnamed whistleblower, Friday accused the EFCC of reneging on the promised reward.

The lawyer, who spoke with journalists on the premises of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, described as false the claim by the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, that the whistleblower had been paid.

A statement on Thursday by the spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, had quoted Magu as saying in Vienna, Austria, that the “young man” who blew the whistle had already become a millionaire.

Read also: Be like the Ikoyi whistleblower, ‘benefit from the illicit acquisition by looters’- Magu

“We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who has not seen N1m of his own before.

“So, he is under counseling on how to make good use of the money and the security implication.

“We don’t want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride,” Magu was quoted as saying.

But Galadima claimed that his whistleblower-client had been abandoned, saying the EFCC did not even know his whereabouts let alone counseling him as claimed.

“The EFCC does not even know the whereabouts of my client. He is presently living from hand to mouth having been abandoned by the commission.

“We have written to the President and even to Magu himself and we have yet to get any form of response. I even sent Magu an SMS this morning debunking the allegation that my client has been paid; but as I speak, I have yet to get a response from him,” Galadima told journalists.

The lawyer said he had already written a letter dated October 10, 2017, to President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter but had yet to get any response from the presidency.

An acknowledged copy of the letter marked ‘highly confidential’, was tendered as proof.

The letter had the stamp of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Justice, indicating that the letter was received on October 12, 2017.

Meanwhile, Chidi Odinkalu, human rights lawyer, has also dismissed the claim of Magu that the whistleblower had been compensated.

Reacting to Magu’s claim Friday, Odinkalu said the unidentified individual had been detained in three different places, claiming the whistleblower’s life could be in danger.

“The claim by @officialEFCC chair, Magu that Ikoyi Billions #Whistleblower “is now a millionaire” is verifiably false,” he wrote on Twitter.

“It’s also false that @officialEFCC has bn working with Ikoyi Whistleblower. Instead, he’s suffered serial detention in 3 difft institutions.

“I know the Ikoyi Billions Whistleblo

wer & can confirm that he’s been despicably treated; his life cld be n danger.”

Under the whistleblower policy, the individual who gives information is entitled to between 2.5 percent and 5 percent of the recovered loot.

 

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