The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided some nightclubs at Alagbaka axis of Akure, Ondo state capital, on Friday night arresting scores of fun-seekers, including a young man whose wedding is Saturday.
It was gathered that the heavily armed operatives stormed the clubs, Shauz Club and Signatures Club, known for hosting night parties and events, in a white space bus.
A yet-to-be-identified groom and his friends, who came to the club for fun, was reportedly arrested with others suspected to be internet fraudsters.
Daily Trust learnt that the operatives confiscated mobile phones, seized vehicles belonging to the suspects and also destroyed CCTV footage of the clubs.
One of the hostesses of the affected night clubs, Ms Oluyemisi Abimbola, said they stormed the premises of the club without any notice and arrested many of the party riders.
“They (EFCC) came in around 1 am and began shooting sporadically at the front of the club. Many people couldn’t hear the sound of the gun because of music coming from the inner club.”
“But we were alerted by those outside, who were still hanging around the gate of the club having fun. It was later the operatives forcefully in a commando style gained access to the club and ransacked everyone.
“They assaulted everyone here on sight, particularly the young ladies and arrested many of the boys including a groom who was here for his bachelor’s eve and they took them away in a white space bus,” she said.
In a viral video, Daily Trust observed how the operatives were forcefully checking and profiling the fun-seekers inside one of the lounges of the nightclubs.
Some of the fun-seekers, who resisted arrest and challenged the operation of the EFCC were said to have been molested and beaten inside the club.
However, the raid came after the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, ordered that sting operations at night be stopped under all the commands of the anti-graft agency.
In November 2023, Mr Olukoyede had ordered that sting operations at night be stopped following the arrest and profiling of some undergraduate students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, in a midnight raid on off-campus hostels.
Then, the operation and arrests led to an outage from concerned Nigerians who condemned the action of the EFCC, a development that resulted in the ban of the midnight raid by the operatives.
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