Lagos — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has clarified that its recent operation at a hotel within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) complex in Abeokuta was not targeted at the former president’s facility, but at suspected internet fraudsters who had converged there for a party.
Following the midnight raid, which led to the arrest of 93 suspects, the EFCC announced that 23 of them will be arraigned on Friday, August 15, before Justice D. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos. The remaining suspects will face trial in subsequent batches.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, explained that the suspects were apprehended during a pool party allegedly organised to celebrate recent cybercrime proceeds. According to him, the event had originally been planned for two separate venues but was relocated to the OOPL hotel in a bid to evade arrest.
“The planners got wind of the commission’s intelligence and scampered to the OOPL, expecting a sort of covering from arrest,” Oyewale said. “The former president’s facility was not a target of EFCC’s operations. The suspects were the target and have confessed their involvement in internet crimes.”
The EFCC said profiling of those arrested revealed that most were implicated in offences ranging from impersonation to identity theft and online fraud.
The commission emphasised that it remains committed to combating cybercrime across the country, noting that arrests of such scale have become more frequent due to improved intelligence gathering.
