BANNER NEWS

Tag: EFCC

  • EFCC steps into family dispute over former C/River guber candidate’s property

    EFCC steps into family dispute over former C/River guber candidate’s property

    By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Calabar

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has intervened in a dispute among the children of late Cross River elder statesman, secretary to government and former governorship candidate, Chief Wilfred Oden Inah, over the alleged sale of a family property in Calabar.

    The anti-graft agency reportedly invited the deceased politician’s eldest son, Maurice Inah, to provide explanations regarding the transaction, which some of his siblings insist was carried out without their knowledge or consent.

    Sources familiar with the matter said that Maurice was initially detained by the commission but has allegedly failed to honour subsequent invitations, citing ill health.

    According to family sources, the EFCC became involved after some of Chief Inah’s children petitioned authorities over the sale of the property, which they claim was contrary to their late father’s wishes and intended family arrangements.

    The disputed property, located at No. 63 Ibom Layout, Calabar, is said to have been sold to one Emmanuel Emele for N100 million.

    The property reportedly comprises a block of four flats and a sizeable expanse of land.

    One of the deceased politician’s sons, Ofem Inah, alleged that the sale was carried out unilaterally and at a value far below the property’s market worth.

    He maintained that their late father had expressly directed that the property should remain within the family and not be sold.

    “Our father’s position on the property was clear. Though not contained in a written will, he made his wishes known to all his children. The property was meant to remain in the family and was never to be sold,” Ofem said.

    He further claimed that Chief Inah had intended each of his children to inherit a flat in the building, while Maurice, as the eldest son, was allocated the surrounding vacant land for development. According to him, the siblings were shocked by the alleged sale, particularly as they estimate the property’s value at between N300 million and N400 million.

    Also speaking, Mildred Ikheloa (née Inah) said the family was seeking justice and the enforcement of their late father’s wishes.

    She called for the property to be returned to the family, arguing that the buyer should be refunded the money paid for the transaction.

    When contacted, Maurice Inah neither confirmed nor denied allegations that he sold the property without the consent of his siblings or that he had been collecting rent from other family properties.

    He described the matter as a family issue and said he would provide a detailed account at a later date.

     

  • EFCC Hospital Raid Triggers Indefinite Strike by A’Ibom Health Workers

    EFCC Hospital Raid Triggers Indefinite Strike by A’Ibom Health Workers

    By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Uyo

    Health workers and medical doctors in Akwa Ibom State have embarked on an indefinite strike following the alleged invasion of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Uyo Zonal Directorate.

    The industrial action, which has paralysed activities in government hospitals across the state, followed Tuesday morning’s dramatic arrest of the Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) of UUTH, Prof. Effiong Ekpe, and three other staff members.

    Eyewitnesses said two masked men wearing EFCC vests stormed the hospital premises and attempted to forcefully arrest one of the staff members, an action that drew resistance from workers and students within the facility. The situation reportedly escalated when additional operatives arrived at the scene.

    Hospital sources alleged that gunshots were fired into the air while tear gas was used to disperse workers and sympathisers who tried to stop the arrest. Some staff members were reportedly injured in the ensuing chaos, while several mobile phones were damaged as workers attempted to record the incident.

    Following the development, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Akwa Ibom State directed doctors to immediately withdraw services, while the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) also declared a total shutdown of hospital services in protest.

    Confirming the strike action, the Public Relations Officer of the NMA in the state, Dr Gabriel Eyo, described the incident as “an onslaught on the hospital and health workers.”

    He condemned the treatment meted out to Prof. Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery, saying due process was ignored in carrying out the arrest.

    “In the early hours of this morning, masked men wearing EFCC jackets stormed the hospital premises, entered Prof. Effiong Ekpe’s office and assaulted him before dragging him away like a criminal,” Eyo alleged.

    He further claimed that the operatives fired shots and used tear gas on staff members and students who attempted to intervene, adding that even the hospital gate was allegedly damaged during the operation.

    According to him, the NMA considered the action traumatic and unacceptable, especially as Prof. Ekpe was reportedly preparing for surgery before he was taken away.

    Reacting to the incident, the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, Baba Mohammed Azare, denied allegations of invasion, insisting that police officers only accompanied EFCC operatives on a lawful assignment.

    Azare explained that the EFCC was acting on a court directive in an ongoing case and had gone to the hospital to arrest a staff member who was required in court.

    “The EFCC went there on a legitimate assignment. I instructed a CSP to verify the identity of the operatives after the Chief Medical Director contacted me. We confirmed they were genuine EFCC personnel acting on a court order,” the police commissioner stated.

    He added that the Chief Medical Director of UUTH had been advised to grant the operatives access into the premises, stressing that the police did not invade the hospital but merely verified the operation.

  • EFCC Returns N387m Loot to Jigawa Govt

    EFCC Returns N387m Loot to Jigawa Govt

    By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Dutse

    The Kano Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has handed over N387,483,488 recovered from fraudsters to the Jigawa State Government.

    The funds were presented on Tuesday to the state’s Director of Treasury Operations, Muhammad Haruna, at a brief ceremony in Kano.

    The commission said the recovery followed intelligence from the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), which flagged alleged diversion of public funds involving two suspects, Abdullahi Garba and Ayuba Sani.

    EFCC said investigations led to the recovery, with Garba convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty, while Sani is still on trial.

    Acting Zonal Director, Friday S. Ebelo, said the handover reflects the agency’s resolve to recover proceeds of crime and ensure accountability.

    “The EFCC remains resolute in its mandate to investigate and recover stolen funds meant for public development,” he said.

    Receiving the funds, Haruna thanked the commission, noting that the recovery would directly benefit the people of Jigawa State.

  • EFCC Seizes Malami’s N213bn Assets, Warns of Plot to Undermine Anti-Graft War

    EFCC Seizes Malami’s N213bn Assets, Warns of Plot to Undermine Anti-Graft War

    By BANNERNEWS Reporter
    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured an interim forfeiture order for 57 high-value properties worth about N213.23 billion allegedly linked to a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, intensifying its crackdown on alleged grand corruption.
    The assets, spread across Abuja, Kebbi, Kano and Kaduna states, were ordered forfeited by the Federal High Court in Abuja following an ex-parte application moved by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, before Justice Emeka Nwite.
    In granting the order, the court held that the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, and therefore forfeited to the Federal Government pending final determination of the matter.
    Justice Nwite further directed the EFCC to publish the forfeiture order in a national newspaper, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why a final forfeiture order should not be made, and adjourned the case to January 27, 2026, for compliance.
    The forfeiture came less than 12 hours after the same court granted Malami, his wife Asabe Bashir, and his son Abdulaziz Malami bail in the sum of N500 million each, with two sureties, as they face an alleged N8.7 billion money-laundering charge, with trial fixed for February 17.
    According to court filings, some of the properties are allegedly linked to Malami’s wife and sons, Abdulaziz and Abiru-Rahman, and include luxury hotels, duplexes, shopping plazas, schools, oil and gas stations, warehouses, agro-allied factories and vast tracts of land.
    Among the listed assets are multi-billion-naira hotels in Maitama, Jabi and Asokoro, luxury duplexes in Wuse II and Gwarimpa, commercial properties in Kano and Kaduna, and over 100 hectares of land along the Birnin Kebbi–Jega Road, alongside residential estates and institutional buildings.
    As the legal battle unfolds, the EFCC has raised the alarm over what it described as a coordinated plot by opposition politicians to discredit and destabilise the Commission ahead of the 2027 general election.
    In a statement on Wednesday, EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale said the agency had uncovered plans to unleash a campaign of calumny against its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, aimed at frustrating investigations and prosecutions of high-profile suspects.
    Oyewale alleged that a network of “paid jobbers” comprising politicians, academics, so-called civil society actors and Nigerian fugitives in the diaspora had been mobilised to accuse the Commission of political bias and intimidate it into inaction.
    He warned that the campaign was likely to intensify as the political climate heats up, stressing that the EFCC would neither be distracted nor cowed into abandoning its constitutional mandate.
    Reaffirming the Commission’s non-partisan stance, Oyewale said both ruling and opposition party figures were currently under investigation or facing trial, insisting that no individual enjoys immunity from anti-corruption scrutiny.
    “The EFCC will not be pressured or blackmailed into selective disclosures or partisan conduct,” he said, adding that the Commission remains committed to justice, accountability and the rule of law without fear or favour.