EFCC Operatives Broke Into My House Through Window, Stole N124,000, Airpods, Others – Victim

A resident of Asaba in Delta State has narrated how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allegedly robbed him of his money and other personal belongings during a raid on his apartment in the early hours of Thursday.

Gwam Victor, who resides around Temple Clinic, Asaba, told THE WHISTLER that EFCC operatives numbering about twelve broke into his apartment through the window after initial failed attempt to break down the main door to his residence.

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Victor told our correspondent in a phone interview that the raid which took place at about 3:20 a.m. on Thursday, resulted in the hospitalization of his heavily pregnant wife.

“Early this morning at about 3:20 a.m, I was hearing noise from everywhere and people were shouting, so I woke up, but my wife was still sleeping,” he said.

Victor said he had thought that the operatives were armed robbers and quickly “took my wife and family inside a room and locked them there because we thought they were armed robbers.”

“We started hearing somebody matching the door and trying to open it. I tried to wedge the door with our washing machine. They tried and tried but couldn’t open the front door so they broke our window, broke the protector, tore the nets and came in through the window,” he said.

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Victor is the Creative Director of Vheekartz Academy of Dance and Performing Arts where he teaches kids creative and performing art.

He said the operatives destroyed several doors leading to different parts of the house and ransacked everywhere.

“I could even hear them saying ‘it’s like they are not at home, let’s go”. But one of them came to towards the bathroom that we were hiding in and hit it until the door broke.

“My wife is heavily pregnant. They saw that my wife was pregnant and asked her to stay and not worry. They now told me to come and before I could talk, they already started slapping me. If I’m not exaggerating, they gave me about four to six slaps.

“They took my money (N124,000) and it should even be more than that but I know it’s not up to N150,000. They took I and my wife’s AirPods and threw my wallet into the bathroom after emptying it,” he said.

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Asked how he knew that the operatives that broke into his apartment were from the EFCC, he said “When they saw that my wife was pregnant, one of them said ‘don’t worry, we are from EFCC,’ but another operative started attacking him for disclosing that they are EFCC operatives.

“You know it was not all of them that were in my parlor because they were coming in from the window. One of them wore the red EFCC vest, some wore black on black while the rest of them wore mufti.

“For more than 20 minutes they were searching my phone and checking my emails, WhatsApp and everything. After checking, one of them said “he’s clean, let’s go”.

The operatives moved to other apartments and subsequently arrested about four boys and “took their cars, plasma television sets and all their phones,” he said.

Victor added that, “Some neighbours came and told us that they (the operatives) were much, that they came in like 14 vehicles. So, apparently it was not just here…. they’ve been raiding people’s residences. When they raid, they will carry your car and they have a white bus that they throw the people they are arresting into.

“And the information reaching us is that they were going straight to Enugu, that that’s where they are taking all the people arrested to.

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When asked if they’ve reported the incident to the police, he said: “We didn’t report to the police because policemen and soldiers were with them. So, it was not just EFCC operatives. It was like a joint operation.

“According to what I overheard them saying, he Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police gave them a paper (search warrant) and that they’re working with the commissioner.

“After searching my phone but found nothing, they just left and told me sorry. But the problem is what would happen to all these damages now? You are holding ‘Yahoo boys’ for stealing and you’re stealing too.

“My wife is heavily pregnant and as I speak to you, she’s at the hospital because she is having pains (as a result of the raid).”

Victor shared videos and photos showing how the operatives allegedly vandalized many doors and home appliances at his residence.

The Delta Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Edafe Bright, said he was “not aware of any incident like that” when THE WHISTLER sought his reaction to the report.

Asked about the claim that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Ari Mohammed Ali, approved the search warrant for the operation, Bright said “I don’t deal much with them (EFCC) and I cannot comment on what I don’t know about.”

EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, promised to get back to our correspondent on the allegation but has yet to do so more than two hours after.

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