EFCC’S BRAZENNESS TAKEN TOO FAR

  

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), like many other well-thought-out ideas, sprang from Nigeria's desire to fight the cankerworm of corruption, which had eaten so deeply into the country’s fabric that it posed a significant impediment to growth.

The agency was warmly received by the populace, and as they performed their responsibilities, its achievements were recognised by the international community. Moreover, numerous African countries emulated the EFCC model and formed analogous agencies to combat corruption and related crimes. 

Regrettably, other nations that emulated Nigeria's model have attained significantly greater success in combating corruption than Nigeria itself. The EFCC has deviated from its original aims and objectives, becoming into yet another security agency that harasses and intimidates Nigerians from various backgrounds. It has evolved into an instrument for political officeholders to engage in witch-hunting and political intimidation.

The agency has devolved into a caricature of its original purpose, frequently resulting in governmental humiliation or public censure and assaults on the Commission’s officers. Unfortunately, this has been going on for years, but recent occurrences  call for not just self interrogation on the side of the Commission, but also government intervention before they push this brazenness to its limits.

A recurring concern with the Commission has been the rate of disobedience to court orders by successive leadership of the Commission. This is why, on March 21, 2023,  over 250 constitutional and human rights lawyers petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC), to direct all Nigerian courts not to hear cases brought before them by the Chairman of the EFCC. 

The lawyers, while lamenting the wave of impunity observed across the country, expressly stated that cases brought in by the EFCC can only be heard if the Commission absolves itself of contempt by obeying all existing court judgements incumbent on the agency. 

There have been several complaints of agency officers taking the law into their own hands, conducting arrests at ungodly hours without warrants or court orders, making incorrect arrests, harassing innocent Nigerians with impunity,  and exhibiting no remorse even called to order. 

For example, in June 2024, EFCC officials brutally attacked a woman during an early morning sting operation at The Regional Hotel in Ojo, Lagos. Initially, they denied that their officers visited the facility until a CCTV video of the incident went viral on social media, showing about five EFCC officials violently breaking a door and manhandling a woman who was alleged to be a staff of the hotel. According to media sources, the room whose door the irate officials burst through was utilised by staff members rather than guests.

On June 8, 2024, the EFCC raided Signature and Abah nightclubs in Akure, Ondo State, arresting 127 people suspected of internet fraud. According to reports, the officials arrived in the early morning hours and began shooting sporadically. 

They raided nightclubs and lounges, tear-gassed people, beat them up, and arrested them without first verifying who they were; instead, they labelled everyone as fraudsters. Video footage of that incident was released online, revealing how the EFCC’s officials destroyed Club property while forcing themselves into various rooms. Several people were taken away and accused of internet fraud.

Similarly, in February 2024, EFCC officers allegedly broke into students’ hostels of Federal University of Technology, Akure and arrested 14 undergraduates on suspicion of internet fraud. 48 students were taken into custody by agency officials during a raid on the dorms at Kwara State University in Malete that same month.

Following the agency’s raid on certain off-campus dorms in November of last year, 69 students from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife were taken into custody. Since the agency’s actions have a detrimental effect on the students’ mental health, parents have been voicing concerns about them.

The EFCC’s enforcement methods, such as breaking into people’s homes at odd hours, leave much to be desired. In a case in Awka, Anambra State, EFCC officials went to a medical doctor’s house and accused him of fraud. Unfortunately, the suspect opened fire on them,  claiming that he shot in self-defence after mistakenly believing that they were armed robbers who were attacking his home in the middle of the night.

In the last few years, the EFCC has become a law itself, disregarding court orders and injunctions, and often using misrepresentations of facts to obtain questionable judgments, causing chagrin among judges. The EFCC's case with High Chief Ikechi Emenike underscores the agency’s high level of impunity in its operations.

Chief Emenike leased the five- bedroom duplex from Blaid Properties Limited at N16 million a year without knowing its history. It wasn't until two years later that the EFCC showed up one morning and sealed the property, claiming it was one of the assets retrieved from Mrs Alison-Madueke. On April 13, 2016, Justice Binta Nyako ordered forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government. 

Taken aback, Chief Emenike contacted the EFCC, which informed him that Festus Azikagbon & Associates had been appointed property manager. On October 14, 2016, the EFCC sent Chief Emenike a letter entitled “Management of forfeited property by the EFCC”, advising him to regularize his occupation based on the terms of the new manager.

Emenike complied with the directive and signed a new tenancy agreement with EFCC’s appointed manager on January 1, 2017, and has been paying rent to the EFCC’s designated manager until December 31, 2022, when the EFCC stopped the payment, claiming that they have advertised the property for sale as required by law.

As the case unfolded, it highlighted the agency’s disregard for the rule of law and impunity in carrying out its duties. Recently, the EFCC’s action compelled Justice M.S. Liman of the Abuja High Court to overturn its own judgment, which it claimed was based on misrepresentation. Justice Liman said: “Any Order obtained by reason of suppression of fact, fraud or deceit cannot stand… The suppression of fact concerning the subject matter – No. 6 Aso Drive – by the counsel to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission amounts to material misrepresentation and suppression of material fact which if it had been brought to the knowledge of the court would have altered the decision made on the 27th March 2025… the order made by this court… regarding No. 6 Aso Drive which led to the eviction of the applicant is hereby vacated and accordingly set aside. It is not an order that would have been granted if the material disclosure of full facts were made.”

The EFCC’s flagrant disregard for, violation of, and abuse of the rule of law is evident in numerous cases. The recurring theme of disdain for the judiciary and constitutional order is more than just disobedience; it's an assault on the separation of powers. The agency considers itself above the law and only accountable for its own interpretation of its mandate. Section 287 of the Nigerian Constitution explicitly requires all authorities and persons to comply with the decisions of superior courts. The EFCC's actions violate this fundamental principle. The persistence of these actions indicates a deep-seated culture of impunity within the EFCC. 

When agencies repeatedly flout court orders with no serious consequences – no senior official held personally accountable, no visible internal disciplinary action, and no consistent public censure from the government leading to reform – it emboldens further violations. The perception, often reinforced by outcomes, is that EFCC operatives and leadership act with impunity.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, recently expressed concerns about EFCC’s actions, especially the brazen contempt of the courts, warning that the agency "is not above the law” and must obey court orders.  No other public indictment is higher than this, thus the agency must brace up for change. 

The EFCC should reassess its actions and respect the rule of law, as its public perception is at its lowest point, and avoid becoming a symbol of corruption.