By Ojo Oyewamide
The EFCC is making significant effort to rescue Nigeria from the evils of her young citizens. This writer thinks the commission deserves profuse commendation for trying to restore the honour and reputation of our dear country. We should all realise that a country without honour and good reputation is as good as dead.
Last weekend, the anti-graft agency spread its net to two nightclubs in Akure. The two nightclubs are Signatures Elixir located at Alagbaka and AL-BA Royal Hotel & Suites located at Sebi area of the capital of Ondo state. At the end of what EFCC described as a sting operation, 127 suspected Internet fraudsters were caught in its dragnet. The harvest is great and this is heart-warming.
Not only the so-called Yahoo boys were arrested, other things were also harvested. It was a pleasant night for the EFCC operatives if the media reports about the sting operation are anything to go by. They were said to have drunk to stupor during the operation and taken away expensive drinks from the clubs.
This writer cannot contest the claim that the EFCC officials took some drinks. It is their right to enjoy themselves anytime and anywhere. They also needed to take something in order to be active and successful in the sting operation. But the claim that they drank to stupor is doubtful. Whoever drinks to stupor will have difficulty in thinking or using their senses. Their consciousness and sensibility will reduce.
If the EFCC officials truly drank to stupor, I wonder how they thought of carting away personal belongings of the suspected Internet fraudsters after they might have lost their senses. They were said to have taken away personal belongings such as money, cellphones, wigs, neck and waist chains, exotic cars, CCTV cameras and other valuables.
One protester even said “Our ladies were whisked away” by the EFCC operatives. Can anybody who drinks to stupor think of any lady? It might be true that the EFCC officials drank something. But it is a lie that they drank to stupor. If the claim is true, they wouldn’t have succeeded in their operation. This is pure logic, nothing but logic. It is good to learn logic in school. Those who don’t learn logic can never be logical in their arguments and reason the way this writer is reasoning.
To know that the EFCC doesn’t tell lies, the commission has admitted that its operatives recovered ten exotic cars, phones, laptops, motor-cycles and wristwatches from the suspects. But it has not said whether its officials whisked away the Yahoo boys’ ladies or carted away items such as wigs, neck and waist chains.
It must be noted that there is nothing wrong in taking away from the suspected Yahoo boys their personal belongings, including their ladies. The world is not created for them alone. Also, they should be deprived of enjoying proceeds of frauds. If the EFCC cannot give the personal belongings of the suspected Internet fraudsters to their gallant officials, the anti-graft agency should donate the items to suffering Nigerians who are in dire need of them.
As expected in a complex and morally bankrupt country like Nigeria, the patriotic effort of the EFCC has stirred the hornets’ nest. The APC-Young Leaders Network has condemned the EFCC sting operation, describing it as barbaric, cruel and brutal. Also, the Youth Assembly of Nigeria, Ondo State Chapter, said the operation was against the principles of justice and fairness.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), National Senate Secretariat, criticised the operation, saying it was egregious and unlawful.
Trust politicians! They like to take political advantage of everything. The Senator representing Ondo Central at the National Assembly, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, described the mode of the operation as inhumane and uncivilised. The senator said he had reported the case to the appropriate Senate Committee. Nothing will come out of it, I can bet. The lawmaker representing Ondo East and Ondo West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Abiola Makinde, condemned the EFCC operation, describing it as invasion of privacy of innocent citizens of Nigeria. The PDP governorship candidate in Ondo state, Agboola Ajayi, called for an end to harrassment, assault or detention of any innocent person by the EFCC.
There is nothing wrong with the mode of the sting operation. Some people are complaining that it took place at night. Did they expect the EFCC operatives not to learn from what happened when they went for Yaya Bello? The attempt to arrest the former Kogi governor failed because their operation did not take place at night. If it had taken place at night, Yaya wouldn’t have escaped. Since then, the EFCC has been looking for him. The anti-corruption agency doesn’t know where the White Lion is holing. If the Akure sting operation was not carried out at night and the 127 suspected Internet fraudsters escaped, would that not be a disaster for the commission.
Oh! As I am rounding off this piece, one of the songs of this Yahoo musician known as Qdot is being played in the house next to me by probably a Yahoo boy. It has distracted my thought flow. As a result, I have decided to end the piece with the lyrics of the song:
Yawu ni gbogbo wa
Ole fe m’ole
Yawu ni gbogbo wa
Ko s’eni to mo bi Olorun o
Yawu ni gbogbo wa
Awon ara ibi gangan won nja wa lole
Yawu ni gbogbo wa
Won nk’owo wa, won nfi olopa kowa
Yawu ni gbogbo wa
A fun won l’obe won nfeyin g’eran
Yawu ni gbogbo wa
Ole tan ba mu ni barawo
Yawu ni gbogbo wa
…
Ojo Oyewamide writes from Abibirih Lane, Isolo, Akure.
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