- Lawyer had advised the individual from Benue to surrender for investigation by EFCC
- Olajengbesi expresses shock over the officers’ behavior, given their professional roles
- Olajengbesi reports the incident to EFCC’s SERVICOM department; officers deny beating the man
Pelumi Olajengbesi, a human rights attorney based in Abuja, recounted an incident on Thursday where he claimed that aggressive officers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headquarters in Abuja had reportedly assaulted a civilian.
The lawyer, who is the Managing Partner of Law Corridor, detailed that on Wednesday, he visited the EFCC office with an individual from Benue whom he had advised to surrender for investigation by the anti-graft agency.
Expressing his disbelief, Olajengbesi posted on his Facebook page about how the EFCC officials allegedly subjected the citizen to physical abuse, including forcefully hitting the citizen’s head against a wall, following the individual’s voluntary surrender for investigation.
The lawyer said, “My firm is providing legal services to a citizen who came all the way from Benue for investigation by the EFCC. His brother had been detained, and I personally advised him to turn himself in, and he needed the wisdom of my words. Despite it not being directly under my work schedule but to strengthen his resolve, I offered to accompany him and the lawyer handling the matter to commission.
“Arriving at the EFCC Headquarters, specifically the Capital Market (CFMIS), not even the Cybercrime or Advance Fee Fraud department, which implies some level of solid financial experts investigators. I was appalled by the behavior of the officers in the department who ought to be solid transaction investigators with lots of ethical experience and professionalism.
The assigned investigator positively identified him and immediately instructed him to enter, using offensive language to refer to him as ‘the individual they were searching for’. Upon entering, he faced a barrage of forceful slaps from a different woman, likely the second in command. The assault persisted without pause, leaving me utterly astonished. Normally, such actions would be expected from law enforcement or civil defense only under extraordinary situations, such as an armed robbery.
“Of all the officers, one Chidera Godwin stood out for his sheer brutality. He assaulted the man in a crude and uncivilized manner that defied comprehension. Witnessing this, I could not help but doubt his education and humanity. Chidera further humiliated the man, slapped him repeatedly, and even banged his head against the wall.”
Olajengbesi said he reported the incident to the SERVICOM department in the EFCC and they acted swiftly and professionally to address the issues but the officers who committed the offence denied beating the man whilst another EFCC officer joked about it, saying, “You dey report EFCC to EFCC”.
When contacted, the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said he was not aware of the incident.
“No notice of such thing has been brought to my knowledge. There is no notice of that as far as I know.
“If such things happen within the premises, there are ways of dealing with it. So, I can’t make a comment on that because I don’t have information regarding that,” the anti-graft agency spokesperson told our correspondent on Thursday morning.