The National Industrial Court has frown at the Abdulrasheed Bawa led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), for withholding the salary of one of its employees, Ebenezer Olufemi Ojo.
According to the claimant, Ojo explained that he was employed by EFCC as a cadet officer on Grade Level 8 on May 1, 2006. And he attended various courses and trainings at the instance of his employer while in service.
However, in November 2018, EFCC alleged that it wrote a letter to the University of Ilorin, where Ojo claimed he graduated from in order to confirm the authenticity of the statement of result he presented for his employment.
“EFCC alleged that it got a response from the said university stating that I graduated with a 3rd class degree and not the 2nd class (lower) degree which I presented.
“I explained to EFCC that the result he presented was what was given to him by the University. Upon hearing this, EFCC asked him to write a statement under words of caution of which I insisted in the statement that the result was given to me by the University,” Ojo said.
On November 7, 2008, Ojo was detained in a cell for seven days after which he was allowed to resume his duty until in 2011 when the EFCC asked him to make further statements regarding the same issue of which he still maintained that the result he presented was what he was issued by the university.
“I was detained again in cell for another 17 days From March 1, 2011 and later charged charged to court,” he revealed.
On March 28, 2011, he was arraigned before the FCT High Court in Abuja in suit number CR/47/2011. However, The court in its judgement of November 25, 2016, discharged and acquitted him of the charges proffered against him by the EFCC.
Ojo then got his lawyer to write a letter to EFCC on the outcome of the matter which the EFCC ignored. He told the court that he then took a copy of the judgment to the EFCC.
“The Head, Human Resources of EFCC told me that unless the University of Ilorin informs EFCC that it made a mistake in the issuance of the statement of result to me, they cannot do anything for him.
“EFCC stopped paying him salary since February 2011, and neither did they remit my pension contribution to my administrator.
“In July 2016, I wrote a promotion examination, but EFCC refused to release the result of the examination,” he said.
Ojo, therefore, instituted a suit against EFCC at the National Industrial Court Abuja seeking among other things, N100,000,000 as damage for malicious prosecution.
Justice O. Y. Anuwe of the National Industrial Court, after listening to the claimant and defendant, said Ojo has given evidence to support the grant of these reliefs sought.
“In addition, having found in this judgment that the Claimant is still an employee of the Defendant till date, nothing stops him from getting all he was denied in the employment by the Defendant since the date of his arraignment in court up to date. Accordingly, the Claimant is entitled to all the entitlements which he ought to enjoy in the employment, this is inclusive of salaries, pension contributions and promotions, from 2011 to date.( 2018),” he ruled.
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