EFCC members attacked and injured by alleged vote-buyers in Kaduna

Officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on an election monitoring mission in Kaduna State today, 18th March 2023, came under attack at School Road, Unguwan Rimi Kaduna as they attempted to arrest a suspected vote buyer.

A statement from commission spokesman Wilson Uwujaren says the team, while working on intelligence on the alleged activities of a Kabiru Musa who was seen in an amateur video allegedly inciting eligible voters into using his phone to transfer money to their accounts as they cast their votes, had rallied to the scene to arrest the suspect.

“However, as soon as he was accosted by the officers, Musa became unruly and shouted to get the attention of his union members, who descended on the officers, using all sorts of weapons which injured some of them. It took a lot of restraint for officers to ignore the unprovoked attack, but they insisted on arresting the suspect.

As the team drove away with the suspect, their vehicle was pelted with rocks and other dangerous objects which damaged the windshield and three officers suffered varying degrees of injuries in the process. The injured officers are currently receiving medical treatment at the Kaduna Area Command Medical Center while the suspect is in custody pending the conclusion of the investigation,” Uwujaren said.

It will be recalled that the EFCC teams were also attacked during the presidential and National Assembly elections, leaving some of its vehicles badly damaged.

Reacting to the incident, the Executive Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, commended the officers for showing great restraint despite extreme provocation. He, however, called on the public to refrain from attacking Commission officials as such action would no longer be tolerated.