Spokesman: Four Sylva’s Aides Still Languishing in Detention Weeks After Arrest

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs to the embattled former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, Julius Bokoru, has cried out that four arrested aides and domestic workers of the former minister are still languishing in detention weeks after a raid on his residence.

Bokoru, in a statement titled, Detention of Sylva’s Aides: A Call for Reason, Humanity and Due Process, said Mr. Paganengigha Anagha, the first to be arrested was still kept in detention.

He identified others as Musa Mohammed, Chief Sylva’s driver; Police Officer Ayuba Reuben and Mr. Friday Lusa Paul, an escort driver.

Bokoru in the statement said: “Yet the most distressing element of this saga is not the swirl of speculation, but the quiet suffering of innocent men caught in the crossfire.

“These individuals, fathers, husbands, ordinary Nigerians, have been held on grounds that appear unclear at best, and entirely vague to their traumatised families”.

Bokoru wondered why despite clear and formal communication between Sylva and the EFCC, his aides had continued to be held behind bars.

He said: “This persists even after Chief Sylva wrote to the EFCC, reaffirming his readiness to appear before the Commission on a mutually convenient date, subject only to his ongoing treatment for a life-threatening medical condition.

“Before these developments, the public was unsettled by unfounded attempts to link him to a purported coup plot, allegations the federal government and the military have since dismissed in absolute terms.

“One would have expected that such clarity would steady the national conversation. Instead, events escalated further, culminating in public statements from the EFCC that appeared inconsistent with earlier engagements”.

The media aide lamented that the Maitama home of Sylva had been under security siege, which he said had been traumatizing the children and other members of the household confined within the house.

He said there was widespread belief that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not behind the travails of Sylva, but that some selfish individuals out of their political ambitions were pulling all the stunts.

He insisted that Sylva with all his legacies in the petroleum sector and his contributions to the Amnesty Programme that restored permanent peace in the Niger Delta deserved respect and not humiliation.

He said: “These events carry a heavy toll on individuals, on families, and on the democratic values that demand fairness, transparency and proportionality.

“They also risk overshadowing the legacy of a patriot who, against daunting odds, championed the Petroleum Industry Bill until it became the Petroleum Industry Act we rely upon today.

“As governor, he ventured into the creeks to midwife the Presidential Amnesty Programme, a decisive intervention that restored peace and secured vital national revenues.

“Such a figure cannot be reduced to a pawn in local political rivalries, nor targeted by those who see the coming electoral season as an opportunity to diminish him.

“Across the political spectrum, there remains a genuine and widespread belief that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a leader long regarded for his reformist courage, is not the architect of this prolonged ordeal.

“Only weeks ago, at the APC enlarged stakeholders’ meeting in Bayelsa, Chief Sylva expressed unambiguous support for the president’s second-term ambition, praising his transformational efforts across governance, healthcare, education and economic recovery.

“It is therefore imperative that state actors or parastatal operatives do not mistake personal or local disputes for federal directives. What began as a local political disagreement must not be allowed to mutate into a national crisis”.

Bokoru appealed to security agencies to release the detained aides to enable them rejoin their anxious families, appealing to them to lift the 24-hour siege around Sylva’s children and resort to due process, which he described as the foundation of any civilised society.

He said: “Chief Sylva has already written to the EFCC, pledging to appear before the Commission on a medically feasible date agreed upon by both parties. This is the responsibility of any honourable man, and he has fulfilled it.

“The many supporters of Chief Sylva, a significant bloc within the APC in Bayelsa and beyond, remain steadfast in their faith in President Tinubu’s leadership.

“They hope, earnestly and patiently, that this long night of anxiety will soon give way to a calmer, brighter morning”.