Alleged N2bn Fraud: Pastor, Wife Sue As EFCC Declares Them Wanted
Pastor Oyinmiebi Bribena, the President of Baraza Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (BMCSL), and his wife, Beatrice, say that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) never invited them for questioning or interrogation before declaring them wanted.
Onyinmiebi Biribena filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Yenagoa on June 8 in reaction to some reports, claiming that they were not invited for questioning or interrogation before being declared wanted by the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, issued a statement declaring the pair wanted for allegedly scamming Nigerians of N2 billion.
He had requested answers to some queries about the EFCC’s abilities to intervene in conflicts between cooperative society members, based on the terms of the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act of 2004.
Reacting to the declaration, Bribena, who is also pastor in a popular church, stated: “We did not receive any 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 members of the cooperative society approved the society trade 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.
He said despite the loss, he had constantly made frantic 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.
Bribena, who assured contributors that all hope was not lost, stated that he would not relent in the efforts being made to clear his name.
He called on all members of Baraza to remain calm and be rest assured that with the right commitment and resolve to sort out the issues on the ground, every member would recover their contributions.
