Arrest saga: EFCC has apologized for error, says Doyin Okupe

Former Director-General (DG) of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Doyin Okupe has confirmed his release from Department of State Services (DSS) after he was stopped earlier on Thursday morning at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos.

According to the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, Okupe was arrested at the request of the EFCC.

Okupe has, however, confirmed his release in a tweet, saying the EFCC apologized for the “error”.

He wrote, “I was arrested and detained @ the MM int airport, Lagos this morning 12th Jan on my way to UK for medicals yrs of my passport being withheld by the FHC Abuja.

“I have just left the EFCC office where snr officers in Lagos & Abuja apologized to me for the error. OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD abi?”

READ ALSO: Doyin Okupe escapes jail, pays N13m fine

According to one of Okupe’s lawyers, Tolu Babaleye, the DSS asked the Ogun-born politician to provide court processes where he paid the fine following his money laundering conviction by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

The LP chieftain was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic before he was arrested.

Okupe resigned from his role in the LP Presidential Campaign team in December after Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja on December 19, 2022 found him guilty of receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, ruling that his action violated the Money Laundering Act.

The court held that Okupe was guilty in counts 34, 35, 36, and 59 brought against him by the EFCC and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine. He has since paid the fine.