UPDATES: Henshaw Imeh Nigeria Popular Producer Reveals the Story of His Arrest by the EFCC while we await an Official Press Release..
HENSHAW IMEH NYONG: 5 DAYS WITH THE EFCC
My name is Imeh, Henshaw Nyong and till this day I have never in my life involved myself in any form of fraudulent activity, ever!
I'm an Indigene Oruk Anam local government, Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. I grew up with parents that instilled strict Godly principles in me which I’ve lived by till this day. Growing up I spent a lot of time in church and used to enjoy church music a lot so I learnt how to play the Keyboard and I’ve been doing that in church for over 13 years. Now I am currently a Music Producer and a Professional Auxiliary Keyboardist which has been my profession for over five years. I currently work with M-EL Productions and Morrok Studios where I ply my trade. Over the years I’ve produced a lot of songs and song covers for multiple artistes including Life story by Emizzy, Be still by Sarah, Mighty God by Vickeyz, and a lot of these songs can be found on digital platforms. Some of these jobs can also be found on my social media pages;
FACEBOOK - @Henshaw Imeh
INSTAGRAM - @shawtunez
TWITTER - @Shawtunez
YOUTUBE - @Shaw Tunez.
Also, I am currently a 300L student of the University of Uyo studying Philosophy and I also run part time body therapy, as a masseur.
On the evening of the 15th of April 2021 which was a Thursday, I received an emergency job, to produce a song for a female artiste whom is also my friend, but during that period my generator was faulty and also there was no power supply in the area. Therefore, due to the urgency of the job and also me seeing this as an opportunity to solve my numerous pressing financial needs in school and at home, I resolved to take the artiste with me to my friend’s house who is also my church member because he had constant power supply, also I had no money to book a studio session so this was the only option. We got there that evening; I worked with the artiste all night and later read my school books and did my assignments because I was supposed to have a test in the morning. Then suddenly at the early hours of the morning at about 6am, while I was finishing up my school assignment, I heard knocks and bangs on the protector door which startled me and everyone else in the house, the hitting and banging got louder and fiercer as the people outside began shouting at us to open the door, we got too scared to open it because we were uncertain of who was there, the next thing was that they shot tear gas into the house and we were so terrified we didn’t know what to do, we were choking and I couldn’t see clearly. They finally broke into the house, dragged us outside, brought out our phones, laptops and other gadgets and started to take record of everything as they seized them, that’s when I realised they were EFCC Officers. Then they began to question us there and my client and I told them who we were and what we came to do. We even showed them videos we made from our recording session that night and after series of questions and cross examinations, they let my client go and said that they were going to take me with them just because I had two laptops and my hair was locked. So they took us, me and three of my church members (including the house owner) who were also in the house that night into their van and we headed for their station but before we got there they stopped at another location and arrested another guy named Chimaobi, he owned a black Lexus car.
When we got to the station they sat us on the floor and few minutes later an officer with a camera came and said he was going to take pictures of us with the placards. There and then, out of shock I asked one of the officers why we were taking pictures with criminal tags when we had not been properly interrogated yet, my questions fell on deaf ears as they told me not to teach them their job. They brought out a form and asked us to fill it, the form included a space for our profession, so I wrote what I did, Music Production. Then they filled the boards with our information, added criminal tags to them and forced us to take pictures, I had no idea they had posted those pictures on social media that day. After the pictures, they started interrogation which was appalling to me because I believed it was supposed to be the other way round. They interrogated us and later sent us to different cells because according to them their forensics unit had not brought the tools and gadgets needed to search our devices so their investigation wasn’t complete even though my bank statement was printed that day and they saw that it was devoid of any fraudulent suspicion.
During my stay in the cell, I was provided with food and water, a bed and a television set, but I could hardly eat nor sleep because I had lost all my appetite in despair. I had never been arrested before, I had never slept in a cell before, I was devastated. As the days passed by it became more and more burdensome to my mental health. I kept thinking of the pending jobs I’d missed, classes and tests I didn’t attend, my family and friends that couldn’t reach me and my life. The interrogation continued every day, I was asked to write a statement which I wrote honestly, and they kept pressurizing me with questions concerning fraud, telling me it’ll become more difficult for me if I don’t corporate with them. Maybe their plan was for me to give in to being a Fraudster with the daily intimidation but I stood my ground, I kept telling them that I was a Nigerian student who plays the keyboard and produces songs for music artiste to survive. I make money from my passion for music, I am neither a cyber criminal nor a fraudster.
They allowed us have visitors but I couldn’t reach out to my parents, my mom got to find out about my arrest on Saturday and she came to see me and we spoke for a very little time. I asked her to return on Monday because I believed by then they’ll be done with the whole investigation by then. Spending Sunday morning in the four walls of a cell was really tough for me, my inability to be in church really took a toll on me, I was always an important part of service in my church because I coordinated the choir and praise team and was also the church keyboardist so I knew I’d created a vacuum that day. I slept all day and prayed they day will go by quickly but it hardly did.
On Monday morning, I was really anxious to leave so I woke up really early, my IO (Investigative Officer) came to my cell and spoke with me, asked some questions which I answered sincerely, but my hope derailed as I wasn’t able to leave that day. I spent the rest of the day in frustration until Tuesday morning; my mom came to the station alongside my uncle and a legal team. They met with my Investigative officer for my release because the EFCC had concluded their investigation on me and my gadgets and had found out that I am not guilty of any of the allegations. My family and legal team got a surety to meet the requirements for my bail as they couldn’t provide the required documents as at the time due to the on-going judicial protest and court strike, at the end of the day an agreement was made. The next day Wednesday, my required surety arrived with my family and legal team, we signed some papers and cleared my documentation then I was finally allowed to leave on bail. As I left, one really heart-breaking moment for me was when the officers kept hammering on the fact that my hair incriminated me, I wonder how law enforcement officials would keep stereotype and tag an individual to be a criminal because of their hairdo.
It’s been really difficult for me to settle in as I’m free man now; this event has negatively affected my whole life a lot. First, I lost a lot of jobs and I also had to make refunds to clients who had paid for my services and I didn't meet up because I was unjustly locked up. I missed classes, tests and assignments in school. Then also came the ‘fraudster’ tag, I started to face stigmatization in my environment, in school, even in some churches, I still receive weird looks almost everywhere I go. My total image has been dented, some of my new clients don’t trust me, and some people don’t want to associate their businesses with my name, some of my close friends and colleagues have disassociated themselves from me indirectly... Although Majority have been supportive and encouraging God bless them.
I tell this story because I pray this doesn’t happen to anyone else someday, I hope law enforcement officials will do better in serving justice to confirmed criminals with due process and validation. Wrong accusations causes serious destruction to an innocent person’s life.
I apologise to every client whose job I couldn’t deliver, for the events I couldn’t attend and play in, and to everyone who I must’ve failed during this period, I’m deeply sorry. I want to thank everyone who has supported and stood by me throughout this period, I saw the numerous comments on the EFCC page and I felt uplifted. I’m grateful for the calls and messages, I’ll respond to them as soon as I can.
Thank you!
PS: On the card I'm holding in the picture, please forgive the typographical error from the G-designer's end. It's Fraudster, not Fruadster.
Thank You!★
