FG charges CDHR officials for exposing Tinubu-linked Alpha-Beta corruption

The Federal Government has charged five officials of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) over their reports on corruption allegations at Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP, the company long linked to President Bola Tinubu. The case, marked FHC/L/1904, was filed yesterday at the Federal High Court in Lagos against Olayinka Gafar Oladeji, Ajibade Olufemi Adeyemi, Olatoye Jimoh Bamidele, Oluwasegun Oluwasanmi and Okewale Akintunde Oluleke.

According to Segun Oluwasanmi, who is the Media Officer of CDHR Lagos Branch, the charges are for alleged cybercrime offences related to SaharaReporters' publications on corruption involving Alpha-Beta officials. He told SaharaReporters that the police had earlier withdrawn a case against them at Magistrate Court 3 in Ogba, only to spring this fresh case on them. "They are just trying to silence our struggle and humiliate CDHR, just because CDHR wrote a petition against them for forgery of signature and tax evasion," Oluwasanmi said.

What is most troubling is Oluwasanmi's claim that anti-corruption agencies refused to act on CDHR's petitions. He said the EFCC told them the forgery case did not involve loss of funds and the bribery amount was below their threshold, while the ICPC approved the petition in Lagos but Abuja never responded. The police commissioner and Zone 2 command were allegedly afraid to touch the matter because Alpha-Beta is involved. So instead of investigating the corruption allegations, the government is now prosecuting the whistleblowers. Is this the Nigeria we fought for?