The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), alongside family, friends, and legal representatives of Abuja-based engineer and businessman Mr. Audu Friday, has publicly challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over what they describe as a pattern of misinformation, procedural abuse, and rights violations in his ongoing prosecution.
At a press conference held in Abuja, Barrister Usman Salifu-Oguche, counsel to Mr. Friday, criticized the EFCC’s recent press release that claimed his client was arrested in Lagos on December 10, 2024, during an “Eagle Flush Operation.”
“That arrest never happened,” Salifu-Oguche stated. “Mr. Friday has never been arrested in his life. The EFCC’s claims are entirely fictional. In fact, he only heard of the alleged raid weeks later through unsolicited phone calls from unknown individuals.”
According to him, the first call came on December 17, from someone identifying as “Nnamdi,” and another on December 22, from “Usman”—neither of whom could be officially verified as EFCC operatives.
Salifu-Oguche further accused the EFCC of deliberately weaponizing Mr. Friday’s mugshot to shape public perception and undermine his presumption of innocence.
“He voluntarily presented himself, yet they forced him to pose with a placard listing alleged crimes,” he said. “That image is now being used to brand him guilty before any trial.”
He condemned what he called a broader EFCC strategy of media persecution, referencing unproven claims that Mr. Friday is the ringleader of a cybercrime network involving 792 individuals.
“Let them produce just one of those 792 people who has any connection to my client,” he challenged.
HURIWA, in a separate statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, described the EFCC’s actions as “a disgraceful abuse of power and breach of constitutional rights.”
“Defaming a citizen, detaining him arbitrarily, and re-arraigning him despite fulfilling bail conditions is unacceptable,” Onwubiko stated. “This is malicious prosecution, plain and simple.”
The group warned against the continued use of “trial-by-media” tactics and urged President Bola Tinubu to authorize an independent investigation into the EFCC’s conduct.
“Mr. Friday deserves a fair trial, not a media spectacle. He, like all Nigerians, is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” HURIWA said.
Vowing to keep monitoring the case, HURIWA reaffirmed its commitment to protecting civil liberties and ensuring justice is both done and seen to be done.
