Kemisola Oye
A senior lawyer, Johnson Odion Esezoobo, has described allegations made against him in a petition to the office of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Force Criminal Investigation Department ForceCID Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi Lagos, by one Dr. Femi Aribisala, as frivolous, untrue, and an attempt to tarnish his image.
Esezoobo, in reply to the invitation extended by the AIG’s office, stated that he had on two occasions expressed concerns about two letters on the petition, but the police have failed to reply to his two letters.
Specifically, Esezoobo called on the AIG to discount the allegations contained in the petition and urged the AIG to carry out a thorough investigation before taking any untoward step against him in a bid to satisfy the petitioner, Dr Aribisala.
The 70-years-old lawyer, in his reply to the invitation, captioned; “Re: Letter Of Invitation – Refer to My Letters Respectively of 16 July 2024 and 12 September 2024″, states, “I note with concern that you have failed to reply to any of the two letters.
“With concern’, because this matter before you is not a small but a very serious one; that a man would just rise, concoct a story of criminality against an innocent citizen and take it to the Police and ask them to go after him. It is ‘very serious’ because, on the strength of the concocted story, you sent me a letter of invitation to answer false allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating, diversion of funds and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.
“It is ‘very serious’ because it does not seem to me that as a very Senior Police Officer, an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, you took time to verify the facts by a simple interrogation before sending me a false letter of invitation and thereafter your men to arrest me. And when they did not meet me, you sent them back to mount surveillance on me, to arrest me. No decent and responsible citizen of Nigeria who takes the issue of his fundamental rights seriously will accept this. That is why I consider the matter very serious, and it must be thoroughly investigated.
“You will find enclosed a copy of the letter of 6 July 2024 that this same man, Dr Femi Aribisala, also wrote to the EFCC, just as he wrote to you against me, which informed your letter of invitation to me, after which you sent your men to mount surveillance on me. And now you are waiting for my return to the country to arrest me.
“Before you commit the error of arresting me, you may take to look at three of the messages Dr. Femi Aribisala sent to me on WhatsApp after engaging you falsely to go after me, to enable you to assess what you are going into by actually coming after me.
“With regard to the police, you have worsened your case. I took the matter to the Assistant Inspector-General, who also ensured that the lady from Ogbomosho, who is the Commissioner of Police, gave me a full audience. Let us see how long you can keep running from them. The longer it takes, the worse for you. For that amount of money, there is a place already prepared for you in Kirikiri. With God on my side, you don’t know how determined I am. Femi Aribisala.
“If you are innocent and have nothing to hide, why are you hiding from the police? Just wait. When they come to arrest your secretary for aiding and abetting a thief, she will promptly give them your home address. So, you better start living in a hotel or with your in-laws and outlaws. I am raising the ante. My buddy, Olisa Agbakoba, has advised me to also take your case to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association. Expect to hear from them soonest, and the big arm of the law to come crashing down on your legal practice. You Are A Common Thief. You are a worshipper of a false god. By the grace of the Lord God Almighty, your life is going to become hell until you are brought to justice and cough up the millions you stole. You will soon find out that my God is the Lord.
Femi Aribisala.”
“He sent the first message above on the 20th of July 2024 while he sent me the second on the 25th of July 2024.
“I do not know where all this is coming from. I think what I need is the mercy of God to overcome the temptation set before me. (Ps. 61:12). I do not know what level of hunger I could have been faced with from 2013-2022 for me to forget where I am coming from, and steal my client’s money (Prov. 30:7-9) and for Dr. Femi Aribisala to take up a reproach against me, (Ps..15:3), pursuing it with venom and without fear of God, and yet calling on the name of the LORD. I cannot but hand you ever to the only true and living God whom I serve continually.
“And yet, on the 26th of July 2024, he sent me another one numbered 5 below: “The police have been to your office in Idimu 3 times. The first time was on the Friday before your planned trip. They met your Secretary who told them you were in Enugu on a court case. They asked me to speak to you on the phone. You booked an appointment for them for the following Monday. You know about this because that very evening you sent me a WhatsApp message accusing me of sending people to kill you. They came back to your office on Monday. You were not there. So, they left a message for you with your Secretary asking you to report at Force CID, Alagbon. You did not. They went back again the following Friday and you were not there. Why did your Secretary not tell them you travelled out of the country? Why did she say you went to Enugu and would be back on Sunday? Why did she not inform you wherever you were that the police were looking for you? If you are innocent, why have you failed to provide the transfer details and this whole matter will be rested? Your actions and inactions are questionable.
Femi Aribisala.”
“Apparent from his messages above is that the man is really after me to kill and destroy me. I am still searching to know what I did, or have done to this man for him to concoct lies against me as in his letter to the EFCC and to you in which you sent me your letter of invitation of 12th July 2024 and set your men after me to hound me as evident in Dr. Femi Aribisala’s vows related above.
“The essence of this letter I am writing to you this third time is first, to counsel that you advise this man, Dr Femi Aribisala, that if there is anything I did to him, which he wants to redress, he should take it up directly with me rather than falsely and improperly using the Police to vent his anger or avenge himself of whatever he has against me.
“Second, to warn that the office of Assistant Inspector-General of Police is too high to be let out for use by unscrupulous persons like Dr Femi Aribisala for the prosecution of false claims against innocent persons.
“As a citizen of Nigeria and an elderly man, besides being a lawyer with great value for self-respect, I am not expected to be arrested and detained by any security outfit in the country except if I have brought myself low to the level of committing or getting involved in a crime.
“You are, therefore, advised to verify your facts in this matter before you take any untoward step against me just to satisfy Dr. Femi Aribisala.”
“By my letter of 12 September 2024, I proposed a meeting of Dr. Femi Aribisala and myself, with you in your office and all the parties that can serve as witnesses for the 7th or 8th of November 2024. This will allow Dr Femi Aribisala to bring forth proof of all his false and vicious allegations against me in his letter of July 6, 2024, to the EFCC and you. Should he not provide proof, you must be ready to prosecute him for giving false information and for criminal defamation.
“Hoping to meet you on the 7th or 8th of November 2024, please accept the assurances of my regards”.
Eighteen-Eleven Media