Doyin Okupe, the former Director-General of Peter Obi’s presidential campaign, was arrested on Thursday morning by operatives of the Department of States Service, DSS, at the Muritala Mohammed Internationa Airport in Lagos.
Okupe’s lawyer, Tolu Babaleye announced the arrest.
He said Okupe was arrested while on his way to London.
Babaleye said: “The information reaching me now is that Dr. Doyin Okupe has been arrested at Lagos Airport by the DSS on his way to London. The reason according to the source is that he was asked to produce evidence that the Federal High Court Abuja has freed him from the case in which he was convicted and paid a fine to the knowledge of the whole world and was allowed to go home. When will this harassment stop? Who is after Dr. Doyin Okupe? As of today, the man has no case to answer anywhere, I hereby demand that the DSS should release my client immediately as it’s a violation of his freedom of movement, right to liberty, and dignity as a human person. This is unfair as the man’s health is fast failing!”
Okupe, a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, was found guilty, in December 2022, of receiving over N200m cash from a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd).
He was therefore sentenced to two years imprisonment by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja with an option of N500,000 fine on each of the 26 count charges for which he was found guilty.
Delivering her judgment, Justice Ojukwu held that Okupe, who is the first defendant in the suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission violated the Money Laundering Act.
She said he had up to 4.30 pm to pay the fine option totaling N13m on all the charges he was found guilty of or be sent to the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Okupe, however, avoided jail by paying the fine.