EFCC arraigns four for obstruction of justice in Kaduna, announces restructuring

The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Wednesday, April, 24, 2024 arraigned four suspects before Justice A.A Bello of the Kaduna State High Court, Kaduna.

They were docked for alleged obstruction of lawful duty and assault against officers of the Commission.

The suspects are; Rukayya Ahmed Mustapha, Sadiya Usman Mohammed, Ameera Uthman and Nafisat Usman.

They were arraigned on one-count separate charges bordering on obstruction of lawful duty.

The one count charge against Sadiya Usman Mohammed reads: ” That you, Sadiya Usman Mohammed on or about the 15th April, 2024 at Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Kaduna State High Court willfully obstructs officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while carrying out an official assignment (effecting a lawful arrest at No. 13 Jafar Organizer Street, Rigachukun, Kaduna) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 38(2)(a) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 and punishable under Section 38(2)(b) of the same Act.”

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All the four suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them, prompting prosecution counsel, K.S Ogunlade to pray for a trial date to bring the witnesses to court. He also sought the remand of the defendants in Kaduna Correctional Centre.

Justice Bello, after listening to all counsels, remanded three of the suspects at the Kaduna Correctional Centre while Sadiya Usman Mohammed who was a nursing mother was remanded in EFCC custody. He adjourned the case to May 2, 2024 for hearing of their bail applications.

The suspects were arrested for obstructing officers of the Kaduna Command of the EFCC while making efforts to arrest one Hadiza Usman, who had jumped bail severally and avoided being served her charges for arraignment.

While trying to effect the arrest, the four suspects openly attacked operatives of the Commission and assaulted three of them, dragging and pulling their uniforms and bit another operative close to his collarbone and another on his left hand respectively.

Despite the confrontation by the suspects, the officers maintained discipline and professionalism, subdued and arrested the suspects, with no violence at all.

Meanwhile the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has appointed Mr. Michael Nzekwe as his Chief of Staff. He has also appointed Zonal Directors for each of the 14 Zonal Commands of the Commission.

Nzekwe, topnotch investigator, lawyer and former Commander of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC, is a course one officer of the Commission. He has served in various departments in the Commission, including Legal and Prosecution Department, Department of Operations (now Department of Investigations), Department of Internal Affairs ( now Department of Ethics and Integrity), Servicom, and Asset Forfeiture Department.

A seasoned administrator, he has attended several trainings and courses home and abroad, including the Advance Defence Intelligence Officers Course organised by Defence Intel Agency, DIA. The appointment takes immediate effect and he has assumed duties. Olukoyede, in his restructuring and repositioning of the EFCC, equally upgraded all the Zonal Commands of the Commission to the status of Departments, with each of them headed by a Director.

To this effect, 14 new Directors have been appointed to head each of the Zonal Commands. Additionally, to bolster and fortify the security architecture of the Commission, the Security Unit of the EFCC has been upgraded to a Department with a seasoned officer appointed as Director, Security and Chief Security Officer.

A new Department has also been created in the Executive Chairman’s office and it is headed by former Makurdi Zonal Commander of the EFCC, Mr. Friday Ebelo who also doubles as Director and Coordinator, Special Duties at the corporate headquarters of the Commission. The former Department of Internal Affairs has been renamed Department of Ethics and Integrity and minor reshuffling effected in some Departments at the headquarters.

Olukoyede says that the ongoing restructuring is meant for the repositioning and strengthening of the EFCC to deliver on its assigned mandate optimally.