The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied allegations of subjecting suspects to assault and brutality during a recent operation in Akure, Ondo State.
EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, in a statement, urged the public to disregard a viral video depicting two women with whip lacerations, labeling it a “distasteful stunt.”
He said that the video would undergo forensic analysis to authenticate whether false or truthful to pursue a case against those responsible for spreading it.
“The Commission wants the public to discountenance this video as it may have been stage-managed to achieve motives that are unclear,” Oyewale said.
“The Commission will subject this video to forensic analysis to establish its falsehood and prepare a case against the purveyors of this distasteful stunt.”
“The Commission wishes to state that no suspect was assaulted, brutalised or subjected to any dehumanising treatment during the Saturday operation. It is also false that tear gas was fired at the crime scene.
“Those familiar with the Commission’s operations know that EFCC personnel do not use tear gas during sting operations. The officers that carried out the arrests neither came to the scene of the crime with canisters of tear gas nor whips, to inflict bodily injuries on suspects.”
Oyewale noted that no tear gas was used during the operation and that no dehumanizing treatment was inflicted on any suspects.
He said the CCTV device was removed by a club staff member at the instance of operatives of the Commission to preserve the footage for further analysis of the role of each of the arrested suspects in the alleged crime.
The EFCC spokesman added that one of the arrested suspects, the manager of the Club, who confessed to the crime and directed the removal of the CCTV device for further investigative works by the Commission, is in the custody of the EFCC with the CCTV and is assisting in the investigation of the crime.
“It is needful to state, for the umpteenth time, that the Standard Operating Procedure of the EFCC forecloses the use of brute force or unprofessional conduct in the course of any operation. The EFCC is a civilized law enforcement agency with optimal respect for human dignity and the rule of law,” Oyewale said.
“Meanwhile, the profiling of suspects arrested at the scene of the crime has been completed. They will be prosecuted accordingly.”
