{"id":99525,"date":"2026-07-02T11:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=99525"},"modified":"2026-07-02T11:32:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:32:52","slug":"lawyers-cso-urge-igp-to-probe-alleged-police-obstruction-of-efcc-operatives-during-court-order-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=99525","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers, CSO Urge IGP to Probe Alleged Police Obstruction of EFCC Operatives During Court Order Enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yemi Oyeyemi<\/strong><\/p>\n

A group of lawyers and the civil society organisation, Initiative Against Human Rights Abuse and Torture (INAHURAT), has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, to investigate police officers allegedly involved in obstructing operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during the enforcement of a Federal High Court interim forfeiture order on a property in Guzape, Abuja.<\/p>\n

The demand was made on Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja, where the group’s spokesperson, Dr. Maxwell Chibuike Opara, described the incident at Plot 4022, O.B. Lulu-Briggs Street, Guzape, as “a manifestation of institutional anarchy and state-sponsored lawlessness.”<\/p>\n

According to Opara, EFCC operatives encountered resistance from armed police officers allegedly deployed to the property while attempting to execute a court order forfeiting the property, which the commission claims is linked to criminal proceedings involving Rebecca Omokamo Godwin-Isaac, also known as Hajia Bilikisu.<\/p>\n

He alleged that unidentified armed men at the premises used chemical sprays and tear gas against the EFCC operatives and threatened to shoot them before the commission eventually secured the property.<\/p>\n

Opara further claimed that the EFCC operatives overpowered the officers during the confrontation, arrested two of them, while others reportedly fled the scene.<\/p>\n

“We are calling on the Inspector-General of Police to immediately investigate who deployed those officers to the property and under whose authority they acted,” Opara said.<\/p>\n

“Nigerians deserve to know why police officers were providing protection to an individual occupying a property that is subject to a valid court forfeiture order.<\/p>\n

“The two arrested officers are currently in custody. We also have information indicating that a large quantity of ammunition was recovered from the house.<\/p>\n

“We call on the current Inspector-General of Police: if you are not a party to this illegality, you should immediately order a comprehensive investigation and address Nigerians on this matter. This is an assault on the rule of law and on Nigeria as a nation.”<\/p>\n

The group questioned why police personnel were allegedly assigned to protect a private individual despite the Federal Government’s directive withdrawing police escorts from unauthorised persons.<\/p>\n

“This woman is neither a politically exposed person nor someone entitled to police protection, yet she was allegedly surrounded by armed officers who resisted law enforcement officials carrying out a lawful court order,” Opara added.<\/p>\n

The lawyers also commended the EFCC for enforcing the Federal High Court’s interim forfeiture order on the property allegedly occupied by Rebecca Bilikisu, who is standing trial on charges bordering on forgery and related offences.<\/p>\n

“We commend public officials when they do the right thing, and we condemn them when they do otherwise,” Opara said. “The EFCC Chairman has demonstrated courage by ensuring that justice is done and the rule of law is upheld.”<\/p>\n

According to him, the property belongs to an 80-year-old widow, Collen Mero Yesufu, who has allegedly been denied access to her residence despite several court orders directing that the property be recovered.<\/p>\n

He alleged that the suspect refused to vacate the property and subsequently forged ownership documents, prompting the EFCC to investigate after attempts to pursue the matter through the Nigeria Police Force were allegedly frustrated.<\/p>\n

“The EFCC carried out a thorough investigation, filed charges against her, and secured an interim forfeiture order from the Federal High Court directing that the property be taken over,” Opara stated.<\/p>\n

The group also renewed allegations that officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) fraudulently issued a second Nigerian passport to the suspect while her original passport was allegedly in government custody as part of ongoing court proceedings.<\/p>\n

According to INAHURAT, the passport was allegedly processed through a prohibited “non-appearance” procedure without the suspect being physically present for biometric capture.<\/p>\n

The organisation called on the Minister of Interior and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service to investigate the allegations, warning that any compromise of the country’s passport issuance process could pose significant national security risks.<\/p>\n

It further disclosed that a petition submitted by senior lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Minister of Interior and the Comptroller-General of Immigration is seeking a criminal investigation into the alleged passport issuance.<\/p>\n

The group also appealed to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to issue a fiat authorising the Federal Government to take over the ongoing police prosecution involving the suspect, arguing that the matter had been compromised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yemi Oyeyemi A group of lawyers and the civil society organisation, Initiative Against Human Rights Abuse and Torture (INAHURAT), has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, to investigate police officers allegedly involved in obstructing operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during the enforcement of a Federal High Court […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":62638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[164,8482,234],"class_list":["post-99525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-efcc","tag-inahurat","tag-police"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99526,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99525\/revisions\/99526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}