Fraud: EFCC accused of receiving $107k from suspect, denies claims

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has become the accused following a public outcry that it received a total of $107,000 bribe to compromise the case against one Ezekiel Oyo.

Oyo who has been accused of benefiting from fraudulent activities, was nabbed by the EFCC in May early this year and has remained in a back and forth process with the commission.

In a recent development, social media netizens raised an alarm of fraud against the EFCC alleging that the commission had received bribes to the tune of $107,000 from the Oyo.

But the anti-graft agency has denied receiving bribe in any form from the suspect.

Speaking through its spokesman, Dele Oyewale, in a statement on Friday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission noted that efforts were underway to ensure that Oyo was prosecuted for money laundering, adding that the suspect had jumped bail.

Oyewale said, “The Abuja Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested Ezekiel Joseph Oyo on April 5, 2023, at the Life Camp area of Abuja metropolis, sequel to discreet surveillance and actionable intelligence on his suspected involvement in internet fraud called picking, online romance and money laundering.

“He was introduced to the fraudulent practice through one of his friends, Bruno, based in Germany. To ply his nefarious business, he opened a wallet address with a user name, [email protected]. Through this wallet address, he received into his blockchain a total fraudulent transaction of $3,982,260.91.

“It is a blatant lie that investigators provided sureties for him. Will sureties provided by investigators spend three weeks to perfect Oyo’s bail conditions, if indeed they were provided by them?

“The purported $107,000 ascribed to EFCC investigators is untrue and unfounded. How could a suspect who benefitted $50,000 from his transactions offer $107,000 as a bribe?

“Every wild claim made against investigators at the Abuja zonal command is mere trumped-up fabrication and should be ignored. All items recovered from him, including a Mercedes Benz C43 AMG, are in the custody of the commission.”

Oyewale added that after the suspect’s arrest, investigators at the Abuja zonal command of the commission undertook his detailed profiling and granted him administrative bail with two sureties provided by him.

“It took his sureties three weeks to meet up with some modest bail conditions offered to them and Oyo was released after the conditions were met,” he added.

He stated that investigators recovered a total sum of $27,000 from Oyo and that the recovery was duly reported and documented.

Meanwhile, operatives of Ogun State Police command have arrested two men for stealing a truck belonging to the Dangote Cement Factory in Ibese.

Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, disclosed this in a statement Friday.

According to him, the suspects have been identified as Lawal and Mohammed Ndatotu.

Odutola said the truck driver attached to Dangote Cement’s transport department in Ibese had reported that his truck, with registration number KPF 237 XA, was stolen while he left his two motor boys, Mohammed Lawal and Ismail, inside the vehicle.

“Upon returning to the parking area on October 29, 2023, the driver discovered that his truck had been taken to an unknown location, and the two motor boys had absconded,” Odutola said.

She added: “One Lawal and Mohammed Ndatotu were later tracked and apprehended at Ogbere by the Ogbere Divisional Police Officer.”

According to her, the two suspects have since “confessed to stealing the vehicle from its parked location.”

She added that the police have commenced investigations into the matter while taking the necessary actions in accordance with the law.

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