Former presidential aide, Doyin Okupe who was arrested on his way to London by the operatives of Department of State Service (DSS) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on Thursday morning has regained his freedom.
Okupe, who was until recently the Director General of the campaign organisation of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labaour Party in the 2023 election was handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after he was arrested.
But in a statement on Thursday afternoon, the EFCC said the arrest of the Labour Party chieftain was a mistake as it was based on a Watch-list request issued on July 18, 2016, when Okupe was first docked for money laundering charges.
EFCC said with the recent conviction of Okupe on money laundering charges by the Federal High Court, Abuja, it has initiated a process of formally lifting the watch-list.
It added that it will expedite action on the process of formally lifting the watch list with the Thursday’s arrest of Okupe.
In a tweet, Okupe also confirmed that he was arrested and detained at Lagos Airport, but has been released by EFCC: “I was arrested & detained @ the MM int airport, Lagos this morning 12th Jan on my way to UK for medicals, yrs after my passport was withheld by the FHC Abuja.
“I just left the EFCC office where snr officers in Lagos & Abuja apologized to me for the error.”