The Management of Pinnacle Communications Ltd, a licensed Digital Switch-Over operator in Nigeria, has lamented the alleged illegal invasion of its Abuja office by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The invasion, which it described as despicable, unwarranted, and illegal allegedly happened last Wednesday at the company’s office located on Charles De Gualle Street, Asokoro, Abuja with the ICPC officials allegedly citing an “order from above.”
The operatives of the ICPC had reportedly stormed the office with fully armed policemen in four vehicles, three Hilux vans, and a car, garbed in ICPC jackets that authenticated their identities to arrest the Chairman and to seal the company.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja last week, the company said during the encounter, it demanded the warrants of arrest and order of the court granting the sealing of the Pinnacle office that legally gave them the impetus, adding that the operatives failed to produce any document. Rather they claimed that they were working with geographical coordinates.
It said that after they (Pinnacle) made some calls to report the incident in the presence of the invaders, one of the ICPC operatives answered a call and proceeded to hand the phone to one of his colleagues that appeared to have led the operation, Pinnacle Communications claims.
It added that its officials “could hear the conversation and the operative said: ‘we are here already’, ‘we have not entered’, ‘they claim he is not around’, ‘No pressmen, nobody’. Afterwards, the operative on the telephone suddenly said to his colleagues ‘let’s go, let’s go, let’s go’, and they left hurriedly like a botched operation.
“The Pinnacle officials heard the operatives lamenting on their way to their vehicles that they should have shot (gunshot) their way into the premises as soon as they arrived.
“It is common sense in a civilised country like Nigeria that production of a warrant of arrest is the sine qua non to entering premises and attempt to arrest people and that without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction no agency of government has the right to seal off any business premises. There are boundless legal authorities on this,” the company said.
IFEOMA OKEKE
