Video prompts rare EFCC arrest of officers who assaulted woman

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said its management has ordered the arrest of two of its officers caught on camera assaulting a woman this week.

The attack took place at Regional Hotel in Ojo, Lagos State – providing one of the strongest pieces of evidence of frequently reported unprofessional conduct of the anti-graft agency’s operatives.

In the video that went viral and drew rebuke from Nigerians, six men are seen breaking into a room before one personnel violently repeatedly struck a woman in the room who apparently was trying to check the door to know what was happening outside.

The woman, whose name was not released, was identified by the EFCC as a staff of the hotel. Social media users said she was the manager on duty.

The woman made no effort to resist the attack and was later led out of the room as the men ransacked the room and took away items, including what seemed like ATM cards.

The EFCC said its chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had ordered the arrest of two of the officers as it launched an investigation. It said the attack happened during a “sting operation” organized against internet fraudsters.

“The officers were sighted in a viral video assaulting the staff of the hotel in an early morning sting operation in Lagos,” spokesperson Dele Oyewale said in a statement Thursday.

He said Mr Olukoyede ordered “detailed investigations of the operation carried out at the hotel and assured that appropriate disciplinary measures would be taken against any of the officers found to be culpable.”

Shocked Nigerians

The footage has shocked Nigerians, who are not strange to reports of the agency’s alleged misbehaviour and unprofessional conduct.

“This organization is becoming criminal in operation. It’s becoming dangerous to lodge in hotels these days,” said a user on X, formerly Twitter.

The EFCC has faced several allegations of abuse during its operations against hotel guests it describes as internet fraudsters.

In one case involving Lakers Hotel, staff told Punch that they were brutalized alongside guests during a raid by the EFCC. About 100 guest were arrested.

The CEO of the hotel, Oladimeji Ogunfolajo, said a female staff was beaten and later hospitalized. He said EFCC agents broke into rooms and removed cash, phones and cars.

One official told the paper the operation is similar to an “armed robbery” incident.

Until now, the agency denied reports its agents were going beyond the allowed limits in their operations, especially against suspected fraudsters.

It dismissed video evidence of one such allegations earlier this month, saying it was doctored. It provided no evidence.

In the Regional Hotel incident, the EFCC said in another statement that it arrested 117 suspected internet fraudsters “following verified intelligence about their alleged involvement in computer-related fraud.”