Operatives of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) stormed the Kaduna State Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the arrest of some suspected internet fraudsters.
The soldiers arrived at the EFCC office sited at Number 4, Wurno Road in the Kaduna State capital on Friday. 17th November, 2023 around 10 am in about three Hilux patrol vans and surrounded the main gate of the anti-graft commission office.
This led to a rowdy scenario in which NAF personnel and policemen attached to the EFCC engaged one other in a shouting match with the two federal security agencies pointing their guns at each other.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewole, giving a background to the development, explained that operatives of the Commission, on Monday, November 13, 2023, arrested five suspects at a residential Inn and Disney Chicken Eatery, Barnawa, Kaduna, following credible intelligence about their alleged internet- related fraud activities.
The suspected fraudsters, Favour Itung, Rachael Ande, Suleiman Haruna, Abubakar Ismaila, and Solomon Olobatoke, were arrested without incident.
After the sting operation, however, six military personnel who witnessed the operation at the eatery stormed the anti-graft agency’s premises and attempted to forcibly release the arrested fraud suspects. They were subdued and detained over the security breach.
The detained four intruders, all Air Force personnel including Lawal Abdullahi, Chukwuma Chidi Christian, Alfa Suleiman, and Emmanuel Ekwozor, as well as students of Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology, AFIT, Chidera Anuba, and Joseph Tokula.
Oyewole said that while in detention, there were inter-agency communications and discussions by the leadership of the EFCC and the NAF to resolve the issues.
“Unfortunately, dialogue on the release of the combative Air Force personnel broke down on Friday, November 17, 2023, when some unruly NAF Officers stormed the Kaduna Command in a commando- style, to forcefully release their detained colleagues”, Oyewole stated, adding that the Commission
which exercised restraint in the face of the provocation and flagrant abuse of power continued to engage with the leadership of the NAF and released the officers to the Service’s Provost after they had been duly profiled.
“The EFCC wishes to assure the public that it will continue to carry out its statutory mandate of tackling all cases of economic and financial crimes, without let or hindrance”, Oyewole said.
