EFCC operatives brutalise FRSC official, rice farmer in Enugu night raid

By RAPHAEL EDE

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have allegedly brutalised the Executive Director, Divine Rice Producers, and an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Enugu during a midnight raid on their residences.

The victims, Divine Nwonye, whose company is based in Taraba State; and Sunday Odo, a newly transferred FRSC official, told The PUNCH on Sunday on their hospital beds that the incident happened on Thursday, July 1, 2021.

While describing the attack on their families as ‘wicked and unprofessional,’ they stated that till date, they had not been told their offences or why their apartments were raided and the doors and windows destroyed.

Nwonye had bruises on his back and a swollen shoulder, while Odo had neck fracture and bruises on his back and face.

Nwonye said, “I was sleeping around 3am on Thursday when I heard bangs on the gate. I woke up and because I am living on the third floor of a three-storey building at the New Haven Extension, Enugu, I peeped through the window and saw two commuter Hiace buses outside the gate and saw people scaling the perimeter fence.

“I was so terrified and there was no light. I was confused and I peeped through the window again; they had opened the gate and some were climbing with a ladder to the first floor and started breaking windows and doors.

“They were moving from one apartment to another. I was confused and I woke my children, my wife and my brother, who works with the FRSC, and we started praying.”

He added, “We thought they were armed robbers, because they were not in uniform. We were praying until they got to my apartment, broke the iron doors and came in.

“They ransacked the apartment. While we were lying face down, they started hitting me and my eight-year-old son with the iron pipes they were carrying.”

He stated that when they got down, they saw some people in mobile police uniform wielding AK-47 rifles, adding that before they broke into his apartment, he had called the New Haven Police Division, but policemen did not come until they had been dragged into the attackers’ vehicle.

“They did not tell us who they were until we found ourselves at the Enugu zonal office of the EFCC. When we disembarked from the bus, they took my phone and started pressing it and after a while, it was returned to me and they asked me to go. They seized my farm implement,” he added.

Odo said, “The EFCC operatives said they beat us because we didn’t open the door.”

When the spokesperson for the Enugu zonal office of the EFCC, Mrs. Bethel Ude, was contacted on the telephone, she said she had no such information.

“Sorry my dear, I don’t have such information,” she stated. (Text excluding headline courtesy, The PUNCH)