A Gambian based Nigerian lawyer, Christopher Mene, has cried out over the invasion and destruction of his properties consisting of two buildings of 12 three-bedroom flats in Benin City by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mene said he arrived Nigeria from the Gambia on Thursday, May 16, 2023 ahead of the naming of his new born baby when he got a call from one of the security guards he employed to provide security on the property located at Number 15 Prince Osagie Street, Igue-Iheya, Benin City.
He said “At about 4 am on Tuesday the 23rd day of May, 2023, I received a telephone call from one of the guards on the property and the call actually woke me up from sleep.
“He informed me that a huge number of persons numbering about 25 with some of them wearing EFCC red jackets invaded my said property at about 2 am by first breaking the padlock on the small gate and on gaining entrance, broke down all the security doors on each flat and the glass and steel doors on the entrances to the 6 (six) staircases and several of the inner doors and panel doors and have forcefully taken in all my tenants and some other persons in each and all the flats, together with all the cars in both properties away to their office.
In his reaction, Wilson Uwujaren, Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, said “The Commission carried out a sting operation in which 44 internet fraud suspects were arrested at different locations in Benin.
“The suspects have been processed, and 33 are found to be culpable of the alleged crime. I will try and confirm whether the said property at Iheya was affected by the operation.
However, it is important to state, contrary to the claims in the document, that it is not the Commission’s standard procedure to break into property except if there is a willful attempt by suspects to evade arrest. The picture of a gestapo-style operation with many damaged doors so gleefully painted without images and claims of bribe demand for bail are strange.
“The Commission is averse to such. If truly such demands were made, the suspects should file a complaint with the Department of Internal Affairs”, he advised.