The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has claimed that they are unaware of a raid carried out at an Abeokuta hotel, Conference Hotel, which belongs to a former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel.
The hotel authorities had claimed that personnel of the agency raided the hotel in search of alleged internet fraudsters, popularly known as “Yahoo boys”.
However, when contacted, the Public Relations Officers of both Ibadan and Lagos offices of the EFCC, denied knowledge of the alleged invasion.
The PRO of the EFCC, Ibadan office, Tokunbo Odebiyi, simply said, “I have no information about the operation. I’m not aware of any invasion of any hotel in Abeokuta.”
Also, his counterpart in Lagos, Ayo Oyewole, said he was not aware of the raid.
Meanwhile, contrary to the statements of the anti-graft agency spokespersons, the media office of Gbenga Daniel said the anti-graft agency raided the hotel around 2:00 am on Sunday.
The statement read partly, “Some unknown gunmen believed to be acting at the behest of one of the anti-graft agencies stormed the premises of the hotel facility in Abeokuta in search of an unknown ‘yahoo boy’. Unnecessary shots were fired and our innocent guests were scared.
“Thankfully, our various security agencies were able to restore law and order and no life was lost. We thank all our customers for their patience and understanding and reassure all and the general public of their safety at all times in all our facilities,” it said.
A lodger said that an award party was held in the hotel on Saturday night, which attracted a lot of people to the hotel.
It was further gathered that the operatives, who allegedly broke into the guests’ room during the raid, confiscated mobile phones, laptops and exotic cars reportedly belonging to the suspected fraudsters.
More so, users of the microblogging site, Twitter, have aired their opinion on the issue.
A Twitter user with the handle, “@Letter_to_Jack, said, “Until recently, Gbenga Daniel’s Conference Hotel andex-President Obasanjo’s OOPL were believed to the two remain fortress in Abeokuta for people.
“Park Inn by Radisson and all other high-end hotels have been raided recently. Abeokuta’s hospitality sector will tank.”
Another Twitter user, @omo_oshodi_, shared a video of what reportedly happened at the hotel. She wrote, “This is the video of the EFCC agent’s invasion of Gbenga Daniel’s conference hotel last night. This is horrifying and unpleasant.”
Gunshots were heard in the background of the video and a man was heard saying in Yoruba, ‘We are in the Bush, EFCC has driven us out of the Conference Hotel.”
Giving more insight to the situation, the Twitter user @habeeba_llah, said, “If EFCC won arrest person.. shey na by hooliganism ni? Shocked to see news of Gbenga Daniel’s conference hotel being raided in such manner. Eye witness even said they had a shootout with soldiers. Dem no even look sey na Gbenga Daniel get hotel. Na waa!” (sic)
(The PUNCH)
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