The last may not have been heard on the long-drawn tussle on the ownership and control of the First Guarantee Pension Limited, a pension fund administration, PFA, company which formerly operated as First Provident Trust Limited and later as First Pension before approval was given for its present corporate name. The company has, in the last six years, been a subject of dispute between Nze Chidi Duru and the industry regulator, the National Pension Commission, otherwise known as PenCom. The company was taken over in 2011 by PenCom which accused Duru, a former member of the House of Representatives and Vice Chairman of the company, of financial recklessness, short-changing some shareholders and for allegedly defrauding the company in collaboration with some directors. But denying the charges, Duru launched a spirited legal bid to regain control of the company he claimed to have founded and nurtured to good financial health until it paid dividends to shareholders in 2011. In fact, he accused PenCom, under its Director-General, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, of acting with impunity since the take-over, saying it amounted to a defiance of several court orders and directives from the nation’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice. He also at a point petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari,  alleging that he was being persecuted by some individuals who had sworn not only to wrest his company from him, but also ensure that he ended  in prison.

By Mike Ebonugwo

The latest in this drama of corporate battle is that a recent bid to regain control of First Guarantee Pension after receiving the green light to do so by the Attorney-General, ended with his being arrested by the police and arraigned in a magistrate court.

Here he tells the story of his arrest and the ordeal he suffered in the process.

According to him, his arrest and incarceration by the police can be traced to the lingering tussle over “the ownership of the company that I founded in 2004, and I promoted and invited shareholders to invest in. It’s called the First Guarantee Pension”. He continued:

“On the 4th  of January 2017,  I received, through my solicitor, AA Umar, a copy of a letter that had been written by the Attorney General of the Federation and Honourable Minister of Justice, to the Director General, National Pension Commission, restating the position of the ministry that their prior letters, there are two other letters, of August 17, 2011 and September 8, 2011, they stand by the content and reprimanding the National Pension Commission for consistently disobeying the orders of court while requesting the DG to immediately comply with the relevant judgements of the court.

And it is interesting to note that the Chief Justice of Nigeria was not just acting as the chief law officer of Nigeria, he was also acting as a party in the suit in which we sued the National Pension Commission in 2011. In December last year, we received communication from the office of the Inspector General of Police following my request as the Vice Chairman of First Guarantee Pension to immediately deploy men and material to protect the premises of First Guarantee Pension in Abuja and  Lagos.

Upon the deployment of the men from the Lagos Command, and the signal sent to Area F to carry out the instruction of the Inspector General of Police, I visited the office of First Guarantee at 65, Kudirat Abiola Street, Oregun, Lagos and this will be my first time of going to the office in the last six years. What we’ve had in the last six years is the imposition of staff of National Pension Commission in the office of First Guarantee Pension in clear disregard and disobedience of the judgement of Justice D.C. Okorowo. It was my first time of venturing into office. On seeing me, the three impostors who are staff of the National Pension Commission immediately exited the office.

Nze Chidi Duru

Around 5.20 in the evening, I saw two well-dressed police officers who informed me and a colleague who was there with me that they had been sent by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, that they received an alert that the premises of First Guarantee Pension was being invaded by hoodlums and thugs who had come to beat up staff and take over the premises of First Guarantee Pension. And also that they they had clear directive of the Commissioner of Police to seal the premises of First Guarantee Pension.

First, it was an alarm for me; second it was a bit of a disappointment because it was the same Commissioner of Police that had deployed men from Area F to have an active patrol around  the premises of First Guarantee Pension, and more so, before the deployment of men from Area F, the Lagos Command had done a surveillance of the premises of First Guarantee Pension and found that there were two officers of the Nigeria Police that had been in constant presence in the premises of the company in the last five years. So, if there was a question of invasion by hoodlums, thugs taking over First Guarantee, I would believe that these officers of the police will be the ones to alert the Commissioner of Police or a nearby police station for action to be taken.

But being a law-abiding citizen, I offered at their request to go with them to go and see the CP, more particularly on the need not to seal the office of First Guarantee Pension because the staff had closed and it would not be nice for the institution that the next day wnen the staff resume they will not be able to gain access into the office. I went with them and, to my greatest surprise at the office of the Commissioner of Police, I met those three staff of the National Pension Commission who had earlier exited the First Guarantee Pension office. I also saw six other staff members of the National Pension Commission at the office of the Commissioner of Police, making it a total of nine.

The CP addressed us and repeated his statement that the office of First Guarantee Pension remained sealed and that he would not have time to attend to us because time was far gone and that we should come back the next day at 10 o’clock. But I informed him that, that was not a decision that I would expect a Commissioner of Police to take lightly because I know as a lawyer ….he’s not in any position to seal up the premises of a company without first and foremost obtaining an order of court. And based on my very strong protest, he conceded and made a statement to his subordinates that they should go and unseal the office of First Guarantee Pension. And he further stated that we should come back at 10 o’clock the next morning for a meeting. I informed him there and then that I had gone through this before and I hope this was not a tactic to remove us from the premises of First Guarantee Pension in order to grant access to the impostors who are the  staff of the National Pension Commission to now gain entrance into the office. He said no, that he was there to mediate and to ensure that law and order was maintained.

The next morning I was at his office at exactly five minutes to 10. We had earlier received information that, going by the tradition and impunity on the part of the National Pension Commission, their staff had resumed at First Guarantee Pension. I complained to the DCP and the DCP said I should take my complaint to the CP who entered his office at 10.45 and could not see us until about 12 o’clock. The CP simply mentioned to us that he now had a clear instruction and directive of the AIG Zone 2 to transfer the case file to his office and that the AIG had assumed responsibility over the matter.

I could then see the handwriting on the wall, that they had again deployed the usual tactic of impunity, of disregarding constituted authority; and had again deployed the act of intimidation to ensure that they gain their way through this process. Being a law-abiding citizen, I informed them that I thought he should have been sufficiently upset  that despite  his instruction of yesterday, Wednesday, that these same staff of the National Pension Commission, numbering nine, resumed at the premises of First Guarantee Pension. That didn’t cut any ice with him.

But we went to the AIG’s office; nine of us, myself, the Company Secretary, two other friends of mine who came to the police station. The moment we entered the office of AIG Zone 2, it became obvious that the hand of the clock had turned full cycle. The AIG refused to see me or anybody with me, including my lawyers. But he granted audience to the staff of the National Pension Commission, including the three that had been imposed on First Guarantee Pension in the last six years. And when they came down, we were now advised to see the DC Zone 2, but on getting there we were told that the matter would now be handled by one Mr Patrick Ajodolo, an Assistant Commissioner of Police.

By the time we went to the office of the AC, the number of staff of the National Pension Commission that were now resident in AIG Zone 2 had now grown from nine to about 13. The AC began by saying he wanted to mediate in the matter of First Guarantee Pension and my opening statement was very clear. How is it possible for the police to mediate in a matter the court had decided and concluded? How is it possible for the police to mediate in a matter that the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had considered variously and very recently with his letter of 4th  January 2017 giving an opinion on the matter. …..And more importantly, how is it possible for the police to mediate in a matter where Justice G.O. Kolawole in his well-considered ruling of 6 February 2013, and 10 November 2016, had restrained the Nigeria Police and the IG from getting involved, inviting me, arresting me or interrogating me on any matter that had to do with First Guarantee Pension, particularly the Target Examination fund on the basis to which the three impostors had been appointed run to First Guarantee Pension. This statement of mine did not cut any ice with the police.

He invited the OC Legal who called us out and began to ask us to make a statement. I asked the OC Legal, if there was a petition against me under basis of which I was now required to make a statement. He said no, other than that I make a statement and that they had an IPO to investigate the matter and all of that. Thereafter, they took away my phone, the phone of my legal adviser; but the 13 staff of the National Pension Commission retained their phones.

This was about 2.30 to 3 o’clock. They began the process of dilly-dallying; called me to go to this office or that office. The long and short of it was that I was asked to make a statement with respect to who I am, my relationship with First Guarantee Pension, why I visited the premises on Wednesday. It was not until about 7.30 that I was now informed by the IPO that I was a suspect, that I was being detained for armed robbery, for stealing and for conspiracy to commit felony and potentially also to commit murder. I was incidented and handed over to the guard; from the guard room office, I was transferred to a cell without access to my family, no access to my lawyer….

At about 10.30, I was now brought out and informed of a claim that when I visited the premises of First Guarantee Pension… that one of those that came with me made away with a laptop and three office files. My statement was very clear: It was impossible for me or any of my friends who visited the premises to make away with any property of First Guarantee Pension. First and foremost, First Guarantee Pension is owned by me, is founded by me and so there is no reason for me to steal my own property, whether a computer, a file or a car key that they said was missing.

They now asked why I was presenting myself at First Guarantee Pension. I  repeated that I’m the founder and largest shareholder of First Guarantee Pension with an investment of over N250 million. And therefore it is impossible for me to do anything that is against the law. And I repeated my advice to them that the step they were taking was against the order of judgements made on the matter. Around 12.30, the OC Legal and one of his operatives drove me to Southern Sun Hotel where I was staying to search my room. After that, the statement was made that whatever material, whether it is laptop or whether it is file or any document of First Guarantee Pension, not found in my room in Southern Sun Hotel where I was staying before my detention. I signed off and they signed off. I restated in the statement that we signed that it is impossible for an owner to steal his property.

About 3.30, I informed them that my medical condition was worsening, because as of that time I still didn’t have access to my phone, I had no access to my drugs. I told them I needed to see a doctor. I was assured I would be released on bail. The bail application was prepared by my lawyer, which I signed, the IPO signed; OC Legal informed me that I would be released once the bail application was signed by the AIG. The AIG had told my lawyer that, on my way out, he would like to see me. Later when the matter was dragging, the DC, after a lot of persuasion informed me that there was a contrary instruction that he had just received from the AIG that I would not be released, that I should further be detained until Monday. By then, the IPO and OC Legal had noticed that I was throwing up. There was no medical facility there. Fearing for consequences of what will happen if perchance I passed out in their cell, they quickly rushed me to the police hospital in Bourdillon Street where I was under effective custody and protection of the Nigeria Police at the emergency ward from Friday January 13 to Monday January 16, 2017.

Due to my medical condition, I was to be referred to Ikeja for medical observation. But the AC was obviously detailed by the AIG that I would be forcibly brought to the magistrate court for arraignment….. It was clear that I was not fit and in a proper condition to appear before the court. But he insisted and literally took away the drip that was placed on me. I was taken to the court in my pyjamas. I appeared in court on Monday in this manner. The judge was hesitant to call our case because it was very clear …. indeed the judge observed in an open statement that ‘’the man is sick’’ and is not fit to undertake an arraignment. But my lawyer insisted that he should take my plea …. and assured the judge that it could be done in a few minutes to enable me attend to my health.

But then I was arraigned no longer for armed robbery, no longer murder, no longer for conspiracy to commit felony; I was now arraigned for theft with persons now at large for a laptop worth N250,000, stealing a file …..and forcefully attempting to take over the premises of First Guarantee Pension…

I can see the hand of the DG, National Pension Commission,  Chinelo Anohu-Amazu,  who had sworn over her dead body will she hand over First Guarantee Pension to the owner and founder of the company, in my travails.