2023 elections

March 18, 2023

EFCC operatives assaulted, injured by alleged vote buyers in Kaduna

Some operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were subjected to attack today at School Road, Unguwan Rimi in Kaduna while attempting to arrest a suspected vote buyer.

The team had been mobilized to the scene to arrest one Kabiru Musa who was reported to have been inducing eligible voters by using his phone to transfer money into their accounts as they cast their votes.

However, upon being accosted, Musa was resistive and screamed to attract the attention of his syndicate members who came after the operatives, using all manner of weapons that inflicted injuries on the operatives.

It was gathered that it took some restraints from the operatives to ignore the unprovoked attack to stand on arresting the suspect.

As the team drove away with the suspect, their vehicle was pelted with stones and other dangerous objects that damaged the windshield and three operatives suffered varying degrees of injuries in the process.

The injured operatives are currently receiving medical attention at the Medical Centre of the Kaduna Zonal Command, while the suspect is in custody, pending conclusion of the investigation.

It will be recalled that EFCC teams were similarly attacked during the presidential and national assembly elections, leaving some of its vehicles badly damaged.

In his reaction, Executive Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa commended the operatives for exercising great restraint under extreme provocation. He however appealed to the public to desist from attacking officers of the Commission as such action would no longer be tolerated.