The death of Halisu Sahabi, an official of the Economic and Financial Commission, EFCC, has sparked a conversation about the commission\u2019s mode of operation and the conduct of its operatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sahabi was killed on January 17, 2025, while on duty to arrest a suspected internet fraudster, Joshua Chukwubueze Ikechukwu, at Dr. J. O. Ukwutinife Close, Ifite, Awka, Anambra State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having sighted the investigators through the CCTV camera mounted at his doorpost, Ikechukwu reportedly refused to open his door and subsequently fired shots at them, killing Sahabi in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before\u00a0the EFCC\u2019s statement on the matter\u00a0was released, the initial narratives indicated that Ikechukwu, whom many described as a medical doctor practicing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, had a licensed gun. However, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has debunked\u00a0the claim that Ikechukwu is a medical doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The social media commentaries also implied that the law enforcement agents barged into his apartment at night without search and arrest warrants and that Ikechukwu had the right to defend himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EFCC night operations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This argument is anchored on the premise that the EFCC had already banned its officers from conducting sting operations at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November 2023, the commission\u2019s chairman, Ola Olukoyede, directed his men to stop sting operations at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement titled \u201cEFCC bans sting operations at night,\u201d the agency claimed its arrest procedure has been revised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many Nigerians opined that law enforcement agents breaking into people\u2019s homes and university hostels at night with or without ID is tantamount to armed robbery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s against this background that many Nigerians argue that law enforcement agents do not have the right to barge into a private individual\u2019s home to effect an arrest of a suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawyers\u2019 Submissions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The EFCC\u2019s mode of arresting suspected fraudsters has always generated diverse opinions among Nigerians, including lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his opinion, Chinalu Emmanuel, a criminal defense lawyer, believes law enforcement agents, including the EFCC, have the power to arrest at any time. But that can only be done after a thorough investigation has been carried out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe power to arrest at any time should be after proper investigation has been conducted, except where it\u2019s reasonably believed that a crime is being committed. Reliance on random raids to combat crimes could, in most cases, lead to abuse of the rights of innocent citizens,\u201d Emmanuel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quoting the submission of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, when he appeared before the National Assembly for confirmation of his appointment as AGF in 2023, Ridwan Oke, a commercial lawyer, maintained that investigation has to take place before an arrest can be effected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the video he quoted, Fagbemi said, \u201cThe EFCC cannot continue to act like there\u2019s no law. If you want to investigate, you do so before inviting the accused person. It is not a question of inviting the man and saying we have caught a big fish, and at the end of the day, you say you\u2019re investigating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Poisonous Tree Doctrine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To address what he views as the EFCC\u2019s problem, Oke advised that the Nigerian Justice System needs to adopt the \u201cPoisonous Tree Doctrine,\u201d a legal principle that makes evidence inadmissible in court if it was obtained illegally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this, Oke believes the EFCC would get its act right if it knew its illegally obtained evidence wouldn\u2019t be tenable in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Oke and Emmanuel disagreed with the EFCC\u2019s operation mode, Muhammed Adam, better known as Foundational Nupe lawyer, specifically argued that the law allows law enforcement agents to barge into apartments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what does the law say?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Section 12 of the Nigerian Criminal Procedure Act permits law enforcement agents to search places entered by suspects being sought to be arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subsection 1 states that: \u201cWhere a person or police officer acting under a warrant of arrest or otherwise having Search of place authority to arrest, has reason to believe that the suspect to be arrested has entered into or is within any house or place, the person residing in or being in charge of the house or place shall, on demand by the police officer or person acting for the police officer, allow him free access to the house or place and afford all reasonable facilities to search the house or place for the suspect sought to be arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following subsection stipulates that law enforcement agents can bring down doors if denied access to a house where a suspect hides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law says, \u201cWhere access to a house or place cannot be obtained under subsection (1) of this section, the person or police officer may enter the house or place and search it for the suspect to be arrested, and in order to effect an entrance into the house or place, may break open any outer or inner door or window of any house or place, whether that of the suspect to be arrested or of any other person or otherwise effect entry into such house or place, if after notification of his authority and purpose, and demand of admittance duly made, he cannot obtain admittance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While many Nigerians frown at the EFCC agents forcing their way into private people\u2019s apartments, the law supports their mode of operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, while the EFCC vowed to prosecute Ikechukwu, Nigerians keep asking why Sahabi and his team conducted a sting operation at night when the commission they worked for had already banned it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Culled: Vanguard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The death of Halisu Sahabi, an official of the Economic and Financial Commission, EFCC, has sparked a conversation about the commission\u2019s mode of operation and the conduct of its operatives. Sahabi was killed on January 17, 2025, while on duty to arrest a suspected internet fraudster, Joshua Chukwubueze Ikechukwu, at Dr. J. O. Ukwutinife Close, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":48695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-opinions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t