Temporary reprieve finally came the way of three of the sacked and detained bank chiefs, this Monday, through a bail granted them by a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos.
After more than a month in EFFC’s unfriendly and not cozy custody, Dr. Cecilia Ibru, Sebastine Adigwe and Bartholomew Ebong, of Oceanic Bank, Afribank and Union Bank respectively, were granted bail in the sum of N100m each. Their other colleague and the former CEO of Finbank, Okey Nwosu, was also granted bail on Tuesday alongside Raymond Obieri, the Chairman of Intercontinental Bank and six other directors of the bank.
Other clauses tied to the bail bond, in the ruling delivered by Justice Daniel Abutu, was that the embattled former top bankers must provide high profile sureties that must be resident in the highbrow areas of Lagos or Abuja.
Another caveat attached to the stringent bail conditions was that the ex-bank chiefs must not travel outside Nigeria throughout the duration of the trial. They were also ordered to report to the EFFC’s Abuja office, every first working day of the month.
Shockingly too, Peter Ololo, the honcho of Falcon Securities, who has the single highest individual debt portfolio, running into several billions of Naira, was also granted bail alongside two directors of Union Bank Plc. Gathered that since their freedom, family members, friends, well-wishers and business associates have not stopped thronging their respective homes, to rejoice and clink glasses.
Of particular interest was the visit of some Delta State Chiefs, who stormed the premises of the court in their traditional attires, to show solidarity for their ‘wounded’ daughter – Cecilia Ibru. While they were doing that, some kids nearby were also carrying placards and protesting against corruption in the society.
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