In the last 24 hours, Nigeria experienced an episode of unlawful arrest and victimization by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), indicating that the little progress made by Endsars might have waned off.

About 70 students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife were arrested after a raid by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of private hostels around the school on the 1st of November.

Currently, 58 persons have been released but not after profiling and a protest by students led by the Student Union Government who stormed the EFCC Ibadan office.

The persons arrested were said to be involved in fraud crimes. In the words of Dele Oyewale, spokesperson of the EFCC,

“Credible intelligence linked Oduduwa Estate with suspected internet fraud,

“Items recovered include exotic cars, 190 mobile phones and 40 laptops among others.

“The suspects have made useful statements to the EFCC and will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”

Issues to note

The question is, is the basis of crime the possession of phones and laptops or even cars?

While condemning fraud crimes in its entirety, it is important to note that profiling individuals based on the possession of gadgets is unprofessional, let alone tagging them as “suspected internet fraudsters” and publishing their names without proper investigations, a pure SARSlike action.

Read more: https://www.crispng.com/oau-students-arrest-by-efcc-how-to-protect-the-rights-of-suspects/