EFCC’s Unorthodox Arrests as Recipe for Another #EndSARS Revolution

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operatives have gone beyond banging doors to breaking them down. They have, in some cases, caught innocent people almost pants down. Recently, the EFCC operatives broke down the door of ex-Big Brother Naija reality TV star Dorathy Bachor. Ayodeji Ake, Sunday Ehigiator and Chiamaka Ozulumba explore the anti-graft’s new stock in trade

On February 4, 2021, a young man reportedly evading arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives at 1004 Estate, Lagos, jumped from the sixth floor. He did not survive. The EFCC operatives stormed the area to arrest suspected fraudsters. They shot sporadically into the air and moved from one apartment to the other. If denied access, they were ready to break the door.

The deterioration of insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation has made it almost impossible for Nigerians to sleep with two eyes closed. The rambunctious, gangster-style of the EFCC operatives have become double jeopardy for people living in fear of bandits and unknown gunmen.

Establishment of the EFCC

The EFCC investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 frauds) and money laundering. It was established in 2003 and backed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act of 2004, partially responding to pressure from the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). FATF had named Nigeria one of 23 countries non-cooperative in the international community’s efforts to fight money laundering.

Unorthodox Invasion

Lately, several people have complained of the EFCC operatives barging into homes and hotel rooms at odd hours to arrest suspected internet fraudsters, otherwise known as Yahoo Boys. After a few raps on people’s doors, EFCC agents do not hesitate to break into targeted apartments.

On August 23, 2021, former Big Brother Naija housemate, Dorathy Bachor, narrated how the agency’s operatives broke into her apartment unannounced. The first runner-up in the 2020 edition of BBNaija TV reality disclosed on her Instagram page that the operatives broke into her Lekki home at around 5:00 a.m.

“What is the need of being a citizen of this country when I can’t feel safe in my own house? It’s 5:00 a.m., and I am literally shaking and so upset right now,” said Bachor. “At 4:35 a.m. I heard a loud sound, and voices followed after. I rushed out almost naked to see five fully armed EFCC men in my living room and one of them saying, ‘Oh na that Big Brother babe be this.'”

Continuing, the reality TV star added, “In my confused state, I was trying to understand what in the hell was going on, why did they break down my door. Then one of them said they were looking for someone who ran into the estate and I should lock my door and stay indoors and not say a word. I’m shaking at this point and so confused because how exactly is this even okay.”

The EFCC invasion left her mother with a panic attack, she said. “I have never felt so helpless in my whole life. @officialEFCC, you now break into people’s houses and jump estate fences, all in the name of doing your job,” stated Bachor. “Shame on you all, shame. You put a gun to people’s heads and threaten their life in the name of doing your job.”

Before the invasion of Bachor’s home, the EFCC operatives have come under public scrutiny on how they burst into people’s homes, usually without a search warrant and the decency to wait for residents to open their doors after a few knocks. Not a few people feel that EFCC’s new style smacks of high-handedness that borders on official lawlessness.

On July 13, 2021, EFCC operatives broke into the Parktonian Hotel in the Lekki area of Lagos. The operatives gained entry into guests’ rooms using master cards seized from the hotel management at gunpoint. Some guests were naked under the duvet when the EFCC broke into their rooms and interrogated them.

“They broke into the hotel and threatened to shoot the receptionists and management workers if they didn’t immediately release the master access card to them. So, the hotel workers had to comply immediately,” said a witness.

Barely a week after, a Nollywood filmmaker Biodun Stephen, alleged that armed EFCC officials broke into her hotel room in Lagos but apologised to her when they realised that she was not the one they were after.

“They just burst into hotel rooms in the middle of the night, not caring who you are or what state you are in,” Stephen had lamented.

Narrating her experience on her Instagram page, Stephen said the EFCC officials broke into her hotel room at 3:00 a.m. “That is how I slept in a hotel whilst filming last week. Next thing, I opened my eyes at a little past 3:00 a.m., what did I see? Two men dressed in black with weapons. I thought I was dreaming.”

She added, “Then I heard the door to my room close. I sprang up, and without thinking, shouted. ‘Stay right there! Who are you?’ They replied, ‘we are EFCC’. My head sparkled. Are you kidding me? You entered my room unannounced?”

The movie director further stated that the EFCC officials claimed they knocked but got no response, leaving them no choice but to break into her room. “You decide to enter my room?” she asked them. “You should have kept on knocking. I was sleeping like any normal person would,” Stephen said.

“One just opened his mouth and asked, ‘Where is the man in the room?’ I was confused at first. And I replied, ‘The who’? He replied again, ‘your partner’. Anger rose up inside me. Is this one roving m*d?” she further recounted. “His partner realised his folly because he quickly apologised by saying, ‘You are not who we are looking for.’ I watched as they interviewed guests rudely and arrested a few.”

She added that she lost sleep afterwards and noted that she has learned that bursting into hotel rooms was the new thing with the EFCC now.

“They just burst into hotel rooms in the middle of the night, not caring who you are or what state you are in,” Stephen added.

Another victim of EFCC’s clandestine’s raid said, “I was naked, and I had to beg them (for me) to put something on. I am actually hypertensive, but I put myself together because I am not a criminal in any way.”

Similarly, on June 4, 2021, EFCC operatives allegedly invaded a female hostel at Alaro Street in the Sango area of Ibadan at 2:00 a.m. A video of the invasion, which went viral on social media, showed a female hostel with apprehensive students speaking in Pidgin English shouting for help.

“See what EFCC did to us. Please, we need help. We cannot sleep after 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. We are all females here. They broke our doors; tore our nets and everything. We tried to even defend ourselves because we thought they were thieves,” one of the ladies in the video stated. “Please, we need justice. We are students. They were even told that we are students. None of us put on clothes. We are in Alaro, close to Ibadan Polytechnic gate, Ibadan. We need justice in Nigeria. We need justice.”

Similarly, on April 28, 2021, EFCC operatives allegedly broke into students’ hostel in Owo, Ondo, forcibly removing burglar-proofs, damaging the property. Commenting about the incident in a Twitter post, a resident, Olawunmi Moyin, said the EFCC agents raided the building from 12:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., using an axe to open doors.

“They raided from 12:30 a.m. till 2:00 a.m. in the midnight. The funny thing is, rain was falling. This act is so bad and gutter-like. Who uses an axe to forcefully open burglary doors?” said Moyin.

A youth leader in Ondo, Oluyemi Fasipe, who posted the video of the invaded hostel on Twitter, said, “While the EFCC reserved the right to arrest and duly prosecute internet fraudsters, the act of raiding young people’s residences for extortion was grossly unbecoming.

“Especially at a time the nation is trying to recover from the economic setback it suffered as a result of last year’s #EndSars protest meant to quell similar moves by the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).”

Also, on February 9, 2021, EFCC agents reportedly raided My Choice Hotel and The Pavilion located around the Olabisi Onabanjo University community of Ago-Iwoye, where an undisclosed number of people alleged to be Internet fraudsters were arrested. A few days earlier, EFCC agents had laid siege on the town, waiting to pounce on suspected Yahoo Boys. They stormed hotels in the area in a pick-up truck and Toyota Hiace bus at 2:00 a.m. in an operation that lasted about two hours.

EFCC’s Stance

In reaction to Stephen’s post, EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren claimed the invasion was a sting operation. According to him, the agency arrested 30 persons, “with 24 of them already confessing involvement in cybercrimes and related activities.”

He added, “The agency recalled there was no incident as the hotel management, served with the relevant warrant, offered access to agents to carry out their lawful duties.”

Uwujaren explained that the women in some rooms pleaded nudity to stop the EFCC from arresting their targets, asserting that it was cybercriminals’ ploy to evade arrest or destroy incriminating items in their devices before arrest.

“The commission will not fall for such a gimmick which is intended to prevent it from carrying out its lawful duties,” he noted. There was no break-in, no molestation and no violence of any kind during the operation.”

Also reacting to Bachor’s post, the EFCC explained that “operatives from the Lagos command of the commission, acting on verified intelligence, executed a search warrant at a block of flats located in the Lekki area of Lagos on Monday, August 23, 2021, during which nine internet fraud suspects were arrested.”

The anti-corruption agency further stated that Bachor’s apartment “happened” to be one of the flats in the building.

“EFCC operatives had knocked on her (Dorathy’s) entrance door; identified themselves as being from the commission on a mission to execute a search warrant,” said the agency. “But they were refused entry for several minutes by Bachor’s sister. The operatives were left with no choice than to force their way in, lest suspects escape or destroy vital evidence.”

Though the EFCC claimed its operatives captured nine suspected internet fraudsters in the building, they did not find any suspect in the BBN star’s apartment. Following the reality TV star’s social media post, EFCC agents came back to her apartment to whisk her away for interrogation. She was later released.

Constitutional Standpoint

The Fundamental Human Rights, Chapter 4, Section 37, of the 1999 Constitution states, “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.”

In the light of that provision, citizens’ privacy, be it in their homes or hotels, must be respected at all times. The EFCC has continually justified the violation of that constitutional provision with the wave of supposed “search warrants.”

Clarification for the Use of Force

Security operatives can use force only if they meet opposition while effecting an arrest. The operatives are to obtain a search warrant from a magistrate or judge before conducting a search. According to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, a search warrant should be executed by officers of law enforcement agencies, while Section 149 (1) of the ACJA provides that a person residing in a building shall allow a law enforcement agent to get free and unhindered access to carry out a search.

On the use of force, Section 149 (2) allows the reasonable use of force when access cannot be obtained by the officers executing the search warrant, stipulating that “where any building or other thing or place liable to search is closed, a person residing in or being in charge of the building, thing or place shall, on demand of the police officer or other person executing the search warrant allow him free and unhindered access to it and afford all reasonable facilities for its search.”

It added that “where access into the building, thing or place cannot be obtained, the police officer or other person executing the search warrant may proceed” in the manner prescribed by sections 9, 10, 12, and 13 of this Act. Many victims of EFCC’s clandestine invasions felt the state agents did not fulfil the constitutional provisions to apply force.

What EFCC can Learn from Dubai Police

In a video released by the Dubai Police last year, series of investigations were carried out before the arrest of Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, aka Hushpuppi, and his gang. The investigation video tagged ‘Fox Hunt II’, was carried out for about four months, during which Hushpuppi’s social media account, fraudulent activities, and the gang’s whereabouts were closely monitored.

The Dubai e-police team tracked Hushpuppi’s every move. The team took notes of all his online activities, including the fake pages of existing websites he and his team created to redirect their victims’ payments to their accounts. They likewise found out the corporate emails he and his team had hacked to send fake messages to clients to redirect financial details and people’s bank details to their accounts.

Before his arrest, the Dubai police could tell exactly the number of people he had scammed and how much Hushpuppi had in his account. During the time of his arrest, they knew exactly where he and his team were and at what time. They did not need to jump fences or break into innocent people’s homes to carry out the arrest. Even at the point of arrest, as seen in the video, it was nothing short of top-notch professionalism with no single gunshot heard.

Breaking into people’s homes to arrest a suspect, which sometimes precedes any conclusive investigation, is a ticking time bomb. It could blow into another #EndSARS revolution if the EFCC fails to show more respect for human rights in their operations, whether in broad daylight or under cover of night.