Prophet Emmanuel Omale, the General Overseer of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry, has dragged the First City Monument Bank Plc, FCMB, to court over claims that suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu paid N570m into his church bank account.
Omale, a self-acclaimed spiritual leader of Magu is demanding N5bn as compensation from the bank over the allegation.
FCMB had reportedly involved the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to investigate claims that N570m was paid into Prophet Omale’s church account by Magu.
The allegation was contained in a report by the Presidential Probe Panel investigating the activities of EFCC under Magu.
Magu was indicted for misconduct and re-looting of recovered funds while heading the anti-graft agency.
Prophet Omale was alleged to be one of those Magu used to launder the re-looted funds abroad.
In the report, Prophet Omale was said to have laundered N570m in Dubai, money he was accused of using to procure properties for Magu.
Omale, however, denied the allegations.
The clergyman had in a letter by his lawyer, Gordy Uche, described the report as malicious, derogatory and libelous.
However, Prophet Omale in a suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2020, and instituted by him, his wife, and the church trustees said FCMB’s false report to the NFIU made security agents put the church’s account marked 1486743019 under surveillance for four years.
A statement by Omale’s lawyer reads: “Sometime on or about the 6th day of July 2020 the former acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, was arrested and summoned to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to appear before the Presidential Investigation Committee on the Alleged Mismanagement of the EFCC, Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances From May 2015 to May 2020.
“That one of the key allegations levelled at the Presidential Investigation Committee against Mr. Ibrahim Magu, was that the 2nd Claimant (Prophet Omale) fraudulently and corruptly purchased a real estate property for Mr. Ibrahim Magu in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates with the said sum of N573, 228, 04 allegedly credited as an inflow into the 1st Claimant’s (church’s) Corporate Current Account No: 1486743019 in the year 2016.”
Following the allegation, the clergyman disclosed that he was subjected to ridicule by members of the public.
He also disclosed incurring the expertise of his lawyer, Gordy Uche which runs into millions of naira.
Against this backdrop, he demanded: “The sum of N5,000,000, 000.00 (Five Billion Naira) being exemplary, aggravated, special and general damages against the defendant for the negligent breach of its fiduciary duty of care to the claimants by its false automated report to the NFIU of a suspicious credit inflow of N573, 228, 040. 41 into the 1st claimant’s corporate current account number 1486743019 with the defendant, which has occasioned grave damages to the claimants.”
