Bribery allegations: Reps order NCS CG to provide CCTV footage of Bobrisky at facility

The House of Representatives joint committee investigating N15 million bribery allegations levied against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) has ordered the Controller General of the NCS, Haliru Nababa, to furnish the committee with CCTV footages of Bobrisky’s stay in their facilities.

The order was issued Monday at the opening of the investigative hearing being conducted by the House Committees on Financial Crimes and Reformatory Institutions.

The had hearing in attendance, Martins Vincent Otse, aka, VeryDarkMan, the EFCC and the NCS, while cross dresser, Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, was absent.

Chairman of the main committee, Ginger Onwusibe, issued the directive following the presentations of the NCS representatives on how Bobrisky was reportedly moved from the Medium Correctional Center to the Maximum Correctional Center in Ikoyi after spending 10 days at the facility.

VeryDarkMan had claimed that the EFCC dropped money laundering charges against Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, after receiving N15 million.

Additionally, Otse alleged that Bobrisky, convicted of abusing and defacing the Naira, did not serve his time at the Nigerian Correctional Service but was instead lodged outside the service’s confines.

A Deputy Controller General of NCS, Michael Benson in charge of the Medium Correctional Centre, had in his presentation said they moved Bobrisky from the medium correctional facility to maximum facility after 10 days following controversies that trailed donations of chairs made to the facility by Bobrisky.

He told the investigative panel that following a trending video of the chairs donated by Bobrisky and the controversies it generated on the social media, the CG issued a directive that Bobrisky be moved to the maximum correctional facility.

But the committee, not satisfied with the explanation, queried the NCS if it was in their tradition to receive donations from inmates serving terms in their facility, to which they answered no.

The committee, therefore, directed the Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) to furnish the committee with CCTV footages of Bobrisky’s transfer from the medium correctional facility to maximum facility as well as his activities there and when he was released.

Earlier, VeryDarkMan after initially declining to testify before the committee due to the absence of Bobrisky, however, agreed to testify after intervention from members of the committee and in consultation with his lawyer.

In his presentation, VeryDarkMan said he stood by the claims in the earlier video recording regarding Bobrisky.

He submitted some evidence including voice recording, chats, and bank transactions to the committee to support his allegations.

Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has informed the committee that they dropped the money laundering allegations against Bobrisky because the facts on the ground supported naira abuse charges.

The agency said the charges against Bobrisky were not dropped on the ground of any financial inducements as alleged.

This was disclosed by the agency’s prosecutor, Bilkisu Buhari who appeared before the committee to explain the details of its investigations and trial of Okuneye on charges of alleged abuse and mutilation of Naira in contravention of the CBN Act.

She noted that the agency had earlier charged Bobrisky for not rendering returns of his company, Bob Express contrary to the Money Laundering Act, Section 6.1 and punishable under Section 19 of the same Act.

Mrs Buhari however noted that the EFCC moved the motion on the 5th of April 2024, for the court to hear the matter because it was a vacation matter and was granted leave to proceed with trial.