Customers and workers at the Lakers Lounge Hotel and Bar, Ikorodu, Lagos State, have accused officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of subjecting them to torture during a raid on the facility.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the workers were attending to customers at the club when the armed officials invaded the premises around 11.30pm on Friday, June 3.
The officials, who were said to have presented no warrant, also allegedly removed the closed-circuit television in the course of the operation.
They allegedly ordered customers and workers to lie on the floor and beat up those who protested against the raid.
“I had to also go to Ibadan to retrieve some of our property. It was when I got to Ibadan that I was able to assist some of the people, including a nurse that was arrested at De Butler’s club, but had no money to return to Lagos.”
PUNCH Metro had reported that officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency recently raided the club and allegedly brutalised customers and damaged some property.
CCTV installed on the club premises revealed as the NDLEA operatives ordered customers to raise their hands while they searched their pockets, bags and purses one after the other.
As seen in the video clip, customers, who resisted the search, were beaten and forcefully dragged from the club during the raid.
In 2019, men of the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Lagos State Police Command also invaded the club and seized from its customers and workers valuables and cash running into several millions of naira.
The management of the club had sought redress over the incident as the Lagos State Police Command arrested 13 of the 19 police operatives for professional misconduct.
Counsel for the club, Femi Martins, lamented the constant raids on the club by security agents, noting that some rivals were trying to perpetrate unfair actions to run the club out of business.
A rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said a lot of victims had been wrongly arrested and stigmatised in the guise of searching for Internet fraudsters, adding that those whose rights were violated should seek redress in court.
He said, “EFCC in recent times has become arbitrary in the way its operatives go about the discharge of their functions. There have been several allegations about the highhandedness of the commission in handling cases regarding cybercrime.
“In their attempt to go after the so-called Yahoo boys, they continuously violate the rights of innocent people. It is expected that before such an operation takes place, a proper search warrant would have been obtained to enable the commission to have legal access to the private property of citizens whether it is built for business or residential purposes.
Lakers Lounge Hotel and Bar and De Butlers, following credible intelligence on their involvement in internet-related fraud.
“Items recovered from the suspects include exotic cars, electronic devices, laptop computers and mobile phones.
The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the investigations are concluded,” the statement said.
Contacted for a follow-up reaction, Uwujaren said, “There is nothing to add to the statement that we issued.”
PUNCH
