Benjamin Dikki, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), told an FCT High Court on Tuesday that EFCC operatives coerced him to agree to refund N1 billion.
The EFCC is prosecuting Dikki and his company, Kebna Studio and Communications Limited, before Justice Yusuf Halilu.
He was hauled into court on a four-count accusation involving bribery and misuse of office.
He was accused of accepting a N1 billion bribe from Bestworth Insurance Brokers in exchange for his assistance in approving unpaid insurance premiums and claims of deceased and incapacitated employees of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
The defendants were accused of committing the offense, which according to the EFCC was contrary to Section 17(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under the same act, between January and February 2015, when he was working as BPE DG.
Dikki told the court that on August 29, 2016, he was alerted by an EFCC worker from Zuru that the commission was seeking for him and had gone to arrest his wife and son.
He stated that he was astonished because he had not received any invitations from the anti-corruption agency.
“I agreed to appear at the EFCC office on Sept. 1, 2016. On arrival at the commission, I was taken to the team leader, one Bashir.
“Bashir told me that the commission had finished its investigation and that there was nothing to say, other than to write a statement that I would refund the N1 billion paid into the account of Kebna Studio.
“I told him I that cannot make such a commitment and he said I was wasting their time,” he told the court.
He said that in spite of the fact that he told the officer that he could not make such a commitment, the operatives insisted and later took him to the commission’s cell. He added that he was detained in the cell from 6 pm to 7:40 pm.
Dikki said he was neither with his lawyer, Ali Suberu when he was made to write his statements nor advised to get any lawyer before writing the statements.
He further told the court that: “On Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, Bashir came into the cell and told me that I was the one detaining myself because I was blowing long grammar and that once I commit to refund, I would be released.”
He said for the sake of his freedom, he made arrangements for a N50 million payment to be made to EFCC, adding that the money came late on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, and it was after that that he was released the following day.
Under cross-examination by EFCC counsel Chris Mshellia, Dikki told the court that he was not arrested by the EFCC.
According to him, he wrote statements after being cautioned that anything he wrote would be used against him in court.
“I had no option but to write the statements. The operatives tried to dictate what I should write in my statement. I was harassed and tortured, psychologically by the operatives,” he said.
After his testimony, Justice Halilu adjourned until Jan. 16, 2024, for adoption of processes in the trial-within-trial.
(Credit: Daily Post)