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Showdown In Kaduna As EFCC Arrest Naval Officers For Yahoo Yahoo

BySodiq Yusuf

PublishedNovember 18, 2023

There was a showdown in Kaduna State as operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested four officers of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), for wanting to forcefully free some suspected internet fraudsters in its detention.

Osun Defender gathered that the anti-graft agency during a raid at an eatery located in the Barnawa area of Kaduna, arrested five suspects following intelligence about their alleged internet-related fraud activities.

EFCC Spokesman, Dele Oyewale, in a statement said the names of the suspects are Favour Itung, Rachael Ande, Zuleiman Haruna, Abubakar Ismaila and Solomon Olobatoke.

Trouble however began when after the EFCC took the suspects to its detention, six military personnel who witnessed the operation, stormed its office and attempted to forcibly release the arrested fraud suspects but were subdued and detained over the security breach.

The anti-graft agency named the four Air Force personnel as: Lawal Abdullahi, Chukwuma Chidi Christian, Alfa Suleiman and Emmanuel Ekwozor, and two students of Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology: Chidera Anuba and Joseph Tokula.

The commission admitted that while in detention, there was inter-agency communication between the leadership of the EFCC and the Nigerian Air Force on how to resolve the issue.

The agency however confessed that dialogue on the release of the combative Airforce men broke on Friday when some NAF Officers attempted to forcefully free the detainees.

“Unfortunately, dialogue on the release of the combative Air Force personnel broke down on Friday, November 17, 2023, when some unruly NAF Officers stormed the Kaduna Command in a commando- style, to forcefully release their detained colleagues.

“The EFCC exercised restraint in the face of the provocation and flagrant abuse of power. The Commission continued to engage with the leadership of the Nigeria Air Force and released the officers to the NAF Provost after they had been duly profiled.

The EFCC wishes to assure the public that it will continue to carry out its statutory mandate of tackling all cases of economic and financial crimes, without let or hindrance,” the statement said.

Sodiq Yusuf

Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.