LAST week, the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) community in Ile-Ife, Osun State, was thrown into pandemonium when operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stormed off-campus hostels occupied by students of the institution in the dead of night, arresting scores of them. Following the raid, 69 students were arrested, ostensibly for involvement in fraud-related offences. The EFCC operatives, who reportedly stormed the area at around 1 a.m, caused palpable apprehension in many areas of the town. Following the operation, the agency published the names of the students, later releasing 58 of them after ‘investigations’ and saying that 11 students were found culpable and would be charged to court. The suspects, it said, were caught with exotic phones and cars. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, ordered the cessation of nocturnal sting operations in all commands, assuring the public that the agency “would not relent in its adherence to the rule of law, in the exercise of its mandate.”

Also, the OAU management, which had promptly responded to the incident, dispatching a delegation to the Ibadan zonal office of the commission, sought to ameliorate the psychological impact of the raid on the apparently traumatised students. Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire, charged the victims to put the experience behind them and move on with their lives. In a statement by the institution’s spokesperson, Biodun Olanrewaju, the vice chancellor lauded other students who rallied round their affected colleagues for being their brothers’ keeper without exhibiting violence or acts of vandalism. He added that apart from parents and guardians who came to secure bail for their children and wards, the OAU management secured the release of the remaining students.

To say the least, the EFCC raid on OAU students’ hostel is a sad and stark reminder of the utter lawlessness often displayed by security agencies in Nigeria as a hangover from the dark days of military dictatorship. Acting like outlaws, these agencies arrest suspects before investigating, breaking into their homes and destroying anything in sight. In the instant case, EFFC operatives not only arrested innocent students in the most brutal, heartrending fashion while they slept in their beds, they also ferried them to another state like common criminals, going ahead to inflict permanent, possibly irreparable damage on their persons, name, family, history and integrity by releasing their names to the public. The implication, staggering in its purport, is that the 58 students who were later released had been reasonably suspected to be involved in cybercrimes, when all they did was sleep in their beds at night. As it is, if the victims do not press charges, their profiling which is already on the Internet will haunt them forever. This is so sad.

It is a tragedy that Nigeria’s security agencies fail to learn the many examples in the civilised climes even though their personnel go on training at huge public expense. The Metropolitan Police spent years investigating former Governor James Ibori, who went in and out of the United Kingdom, not having the slightest idea that he was under surveillance. In Nigeria, security agencies take great pleasure in arresting suspects in commando fashion, then start investigations afterwards. That is what happened in this case, and it is beyond absurd. Pray, where is the professionalism when you abduct students at night, then say you are keeping them for investigation? The normal process, may we remind these agencies, is to investigate before arrest.

EFCC gave the impression that students cannot own good phones or ride cars but regardless of its suspicion, only a court can pronounce anyone guilty. What did it hope to achieve by publishing the names of the students? The internet does not forget. The idea of invading residences in the dead of the night in search of suspects is not only highhanded and untenable, it is akin to a flagrant abuse of the powers of the commission. It is a mindless assault on the rights of Nigerians. It does not in any concrete way advance the cause of the commission. In any case, what point is made by operating at night as if there is any proven difficulties associated with looking for suspects during the day? There are enough powers in the books for the operations of the commission without acts of brigandage that can only drag it through the mud and stain the fight against crime. The supervising authorities must call the commission to order and enjoin it to follow the path of thorough and painstaking conduct rather than ambush, which in itself is a crime.

In this regard, the EFCC chairman’s pronouncement on night raids is quite in order. He announced a review of the arrest and bail procedure to “adhere to the rule of law and international best practices in the treatment of suspects”, barring the detention of suspects beyond the constitutionally allowed period without a remand warrant. He also directed operatives to ensure “premium attention is focused on the rights of suspects, especially where arrest, detention and bail issues are concerned”. In addition, he ordered the officers against demanding “professional certificates of sureties as a bail condition,” adding that every demand for international passports of suspects would henceforth be exercised with discretion. This, we believe, is the way to go.

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