Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) stormed the head office of The
Sun Newspaper in Apapa, Lagos, on Monday,
disrupting its operations.

The “heavily armed ” operatives were said to have
subjected our staff to “crude intimidation,
psychological and emotional trauma”.

In a statement after the raid, the newspaper accused
Ibrahim Magu, wife of the acting chairman of the
commission, of vendetta.

The Sun said Magu was miffed over a previous
investigative story it ran about a property traced to
Magu’s wife.

Vowing not to succumb to intimidation, the newspaper
and asked Nigerians to “call Magu to order”.

The Sun is owned by Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of
Abia state.

Below is the statement from the company:
Law -abiding staff of The Sun Publishing Limited
resumed work this morning, June 12, 2017 to behold
heavily armed EFCC operatives in our company. They
claimed to have “orders from above” to seal up the
premises of The Sun Publishing Limited.

At gunpoint, they ordered our security personnel to
take them round the company premises, after which
they proceeded to prevent staff from either entering or
leaving the premises, and disrupted our circulation
process.

For one gruelling hour, EFCC operatives subjected our
staff to crude intimidation, psychological and
emotional trauma, even as some of the men accused
our organisation of publishing pro-Biafra, Boko Haram
and Niger Delta militant stories, as they surveyed our
premises.

We recall that in 2007, (10 years ago) the EFCC had
obtained an interim forfeiture order in respect of some
assets of The Sun, attached to a suit against our
Publisher, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, for which we have filed an
appeal, which is still pending in court.

We also recall that the Acting Chairman of the EFCC,
Mr. Ibrahim Magu had written a letter personally
signed by him dated 23rd of May and received on the
7th of June, asking The Sun management to report to
the Commission on 5th of June, detailing our
operations in the last 10 years, on account of an
interim order of forfeiture under appeal
As law-abiding corporate citizen, our lawyer, Chief
Chris Uche SAN, wrote the Commission to intimate the
Agency that the issue was pending before the court of
Appeal. The receipt of our correspondence was duly
acknowledged.

We were therefore shocked that our premises would be
invaded by the Commission under whatever guise.

This is condemnable and reprehensible. No one,
agency or authority should be above the laws of our
country. An abuse of the law is a recipe for chaos.

Magu had in an earlier letter threatened to sue The
Sun over a report published by one of our titles,
pertaining to a report on the investigation of a property
allegedly traced to his wife. But up till now, we are yet
to receive any court process.

In the light of the above, we strongly view this
onslaught against The Sun as a personal vendetta by
the leadership of the Commission, and by extension a
declaration of war against the media.

In this invasion of our premises, it is crystal clear that
what Magu and his Commission are after is not only to
intimidate and muzzle us, but a furious attempt to call
a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

On the issue of the interim order, which he purportedly
based his invasion, Magu knows the matter has been
on appeal since 2007 for which hearing comes up this
week. But rather than wait for the court process, the
commission under the leadership of Magu, typically
resorted to self help.

We want the general public to take note of this
authoritarianism and high-handedness, which has
been the hallmark of Magu’s leadership of the EFCC.

The other charge of publishing Biafra, Boko Haram and
Niger Delta militant stories is very ridiculous, baseless
and anti-Press freedom.

We like to state that we are neither an ethnic, political
nor religious newspaper, but we are the Voice of the
Nation, reflecting all sides, all views and all shades of
opinion in line with the ethics of our profession.

We challenge Magu and his Commission to show
where The Sun’s stories have been different from other
papers in the country.

We call on well-meaning citizens and relevant
authorities to restrain Magu and his Commission from
taking the laws into their hands.

TheCable