President Bola Tinubu has asked Nigeria’s secret police, the State Security Service (SSS), to end the blockade of the Lagos office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The president, in a statement by his media aide, Tunde Rahman, gave the directive on Tuesday after he was briefed on the action of the SSS at the EFCC office in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the SSS placed two armoured vehicles to scare and deter the commission’s officials from the building. The armoured vehicles are believed to have been brought in in the early hours of Tuesday.
Sources in both agencies said there had been an ongoing controversy between both agencies over the ownership of the building at 15A, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
SSS spokesperson Peter Afunanya told PREMIUM TIMES that his agency was the rightful owner of the building.
Mr Tinubu, who just assumed duty on Tuesday after his inauguration on Monday, said if there were issues between the two important government agencies, they would be resolved amicably.
The Ikoyi building
Located in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos, the building at 15A Awolowo Road serves as the Lagos head office of the EFCC. The office is headed by the zonal head of the commission in Lagos.
ALSO READ:Â SSS siege on our Lagos office strange, shocking – EFCC
It is separate from the EFCC office in Okotie-Eboh, also in Ikoyi, which houses the agency’s detention centre in Lagos.
Even though the EFCC uses the Awolowo Road building as its Lagos head office, the SSS had always used part of the building for its operations until Tuesday morning, when it appeared to have taken full control.
Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
DonateTEXT AD: Call Willie - +2348098788999