A former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Benjamin Dikki, on Tuesday told a Federal Capital Territory High Court that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission forced him to make a commitment to refund N1 billion.
He is being tried alongside his firm, Kebna Studio and Communications Limited, before Justice Yusuf Halilu.
Dikki was dragged to court on a four-count charge bordering on receiving bribes and abuse of office.
He was alleged to have received a N1 billion bribe from Bestworth Insurance Brokers for his role in facilitating the approval of outstanding insurance premiums and claims of deceased and incapacitated staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
The defendants were alleged to have committed the offence, which the EFCC stated, was contrary to Section 17(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under the same Act, between January and February 2015, when he was serving as BPE DG.
He testified in a trial-within-trial to contest the voluntariness of the statements allegedly made by him.
Dikki told the court that he was informed on August 29, 2016 by an EFCC operative from Zuru that the commission had been looking for him and had gone to arrest his wife and son.
He said this surprised him because he did not receive any invitation from the anti-graft agency.
He said: ”I agreed to appear at the EFCC office on September 1, 2016.
“On arrival at the commission, I was taken to the team leader, one Bashir.
“Bashir told me that the commission had finished its investigation and that there was nothing to say other than to write a statement that I will refund the N1 billion paid into the account of Kebna Studio.
“I told him that I cannot make such a commitment and he said I was wasting their time.”
Dikki said in spite of the fact that he told the officer that he could not make such a commitment, the operatives insisted and later took him to the commission’s cell.
He added that he was detained in the cell from 6pm to 7:40pm.
Dikki said he was neither with his lawyer, Ali Suberu, when he was made to write his statements, nor advised to get any lawyer before writing the statements.
He further told the court: “On Sunday, September 4, 2016, Bashir came into the cell and told me that I was the one detaining myself because I was blowing long grammar, that once I commit to refund, I would be released.”
He said for the sake of his freedom, he made arrangements for N50 million payment to be made to the EFCC, adding that the money came late on September 5, 2016 and it was after then that he was released the following day.
Under cross examination by the EFCC counsel, Chris Mshellia, Dikki told the court that he was not arrested by the EFCC.
According to him, he wrote statements after being cautioned that anything he wrote would be used against him in court.
He added: “I had no option but to write the statement.
“The operatives tried to dictate what I should write in my statement.
“I was harassed and tortured psychologically by the operatives.”
After his testimony, Justice Halilu adjourned until January 16, 2024 for the adoption of processes in the trial-within-trial.
