EFCC COUP: Police Top Hierarchy Attempting To Maintain Hegemony Grip On Anti-graft Agency

👤 EXCLUSIVE: Adenike Lucas and Danjuma Aliyu, DENISAURUS News

Ibrahim Mustafa Magu, the former acting chairman of the Economics and Financial Commission Crimes, EFCC, has long connived with other police officer known as “Magu Boys,” to subjugate core operatives at the agency.

Though some of these “Magu boys,” have been removed from the anti-graft agency and re-deployed to various commands, following the arrest and suspension of Mr Magu, it is not yet uhuru for all core operatives who have been refused promotion and some operatives denied salaries for more than 3 years.

DENISAURUS News was informed by a reliable source, that one of the most senior and pioneer regular operative who was on course at the Security Institute of DSS, Abubakar Sa’ad, was recalled back to the EFCC Headquarters to serve as the acting Director of Operations, DOPs, sometimes last week.

The operative reported and abandoned his course to come and take over the operational duty he was asked to, however, the acting chairman received a call to report at the police headquarters, which he honoured.

This newspaper has been privy to how the now acting chair owes his allegiance to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, hence, upon return back to EFCC headquarters, a new song is now being sang.

DENISAURUS News understand that a process by the IGP has made it a point of duty, to make sure that the anti-graft agency is still made to be subservient to the authorities at Force Headquarters.

Mr Sa’ad has now been left hanging, without any further directive to take over the office of Director of Operations. Instead, the acting chair in obedience to the authority of IGP, as though EFCC is now a police department, orders one of the existing and still present “Magu boys,” ACP Mohammed Hadieja to replace the senior regular and pioneer operative.

This newspaper also gathered that most of the “Magu Boys” over one hundred and fifty, are still within the EFCC Zonal offices; including Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port- Harcourt and others. They were stationed to keep tab on the internal activities in the agency, and report back to their suspended boss.

One of the strong “Magu boys,” CSP Sanusi Aliyu Mohammed, is still at Kano Zone among several others.

Information at the disposal of DENISAURUS News, revealed that the said Mr Sa’ad has been assisting the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, in the last couple of years to fight cybercrime. But in 2019, Mr Magu returned him to EFCC when he imagined that the operative could be considered for Chairman of the anti-graft agency.

“It is quite unfortunate to say that, despite leaving some “Magu boys” to remain at the EFCC, they are still playing the card of Mr Magu, by frustrating and trying to help him fight back against the regular staff members of the agency,” an affected staff explained to this newspaper.

Another source pleaded with this newspaper, that “the Presidency should as a matter urgent national commitment, cause an investigation into the crisis of ranking created by Mr Magu, which has made the police officers seconded to EFCC see themselves as above every other regular operative, irrespective of their ranks being above theirs.”

Staff members are currently agitating, challenging the authority of the Police, for interfering in the running of the anti-graft agency. Especially on the fact that the EFCC is not, has never been, and would never be a department under the Nigeria Police Force.

DENISAURUS News 05 August 2020 1 Meanwhile, in an effort to appease the senior regular and pioneer operatives, so as to give the top police hierarchy the legitimacy to perpetuate their dominance at the EFCC, a new posting has been released. DENISAURUS News learned.

Despite the agitation to regularise the ranking system at the anti-graft agency, in order to place EFCC operatives at par with ranking in other law enforcement agencies, there is urgent need to “Gazette the EFCC Ranks.”

The new memo was exclusively obtained by DENISAURUS News, and contains over 37 names of both police officers (remnants of Magu boys), and other regular senior operatives.

Mr Magu, who was exposed for using a prophet as a conduit, has kept a monitoring eye on those appearing at the panel investigating him for fraud.

37 New redeployed staff pg2

37 New redeployed staff pg3

When DENISAURUS News made effort to speak with the spokesman of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, he kept on rejecting our calls before filing this report.