Protesters hail EFCC over arrest of ex-NDDC top aide

Some people on Tuesday took to the streets in Yenagoa to show their support to the EFCC for the arrest and prosecution of George Turner, a former top aide in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Turnah was a former Special Adviser to a former Managing Director of the NDDC.

He is facing trial in Federal High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt on a 12-count charge, bordering on obtaining money by false pretense, money laundering and abuse of office. The rally took place simultaneously in Yenagoa and seven other Local Government Areas in Bayelsa.

Turnah was arrested in Port Harcourt last March in connection with alleged possession of two billion Naira, suspected to be siphoned from the NDDC while he served in the commission between 2012 and 2015.

The Spokesman of the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwajaren, had said that preliminary investigations indicated that Turnah made deposits in his personal and company bank accounts in excess of N2 billion. It was against this backdrop that some people in Bayelsa embarked on the peaceful demonstration in solidarity with the anti-graft agency.

The demonstrators under the aegis of Concerned Citizens of Bayelsa State, carried placards bearing inscriptions such as “we thank EFCC for exposing corrupt persons. “Enemies of Niger Delta exposed; ‘Well done EFCC,’ ‘George Turnah impoverished Bayelsa State.’

The leaders of the group, Chief Harrow Zuokomor, and Mr Abule Bethel, while submitting their letter at the Bayelsa State Police Command Headquarters stated that corruption had continued to impoverish the ordinary people. Addressing the demonstrators, the Bayelsa Commissioner of Police, Mr Asuquo Amba, promised to deliver their message to the appropriate authorities.

He said that the matter was already in court, expressing hope that justice would run its full course. The demonstration in the Bayelsa capital began early in the morning from Ekeki Park through the House of Assembly along Melford Okilo Road to the police headquarters at Ovom.

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