The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said some of its operatives deployed on election monitoring duty in Kaduna State were attacked while attempting to arrest alleged vote-buying suspects in the state.
The EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren said this in a statement on Saturday.
Mr Uwujaren said that the attack took place after it mobilised to an undisclosed location to arrest a suspect named Kabiru Musa, who was allegedly seen on camera persuading eligible voters by using his phone to transfer money into their accounts as they cast their ballots.
“However, immediately he was accosted by the operatives, Musa became unruly and screamed to attract the attention of his syndicate members, who descended on the operatives, using all manner of weapons that left some of them injured, ” he said.
The Commission said it took great restraints for the operatives to ignore the unprovoked attack but insisted on arresting the suspect.
“As the team drove away with the suspect, their vehicle was pelted with stones and other dangerous objects that damaged the windshield and three operatives suffered varying degrees of injuries in the process,” he added.
The EFCC said the injured operatives are currently receiving medical attention at the Medical Centre of the Kaduna Zonal Command, while the suspect is in custody, pending the conclusion of the investigation.
Elections for state legislatures and governorships are still taking place all around the nation.
The EFCC, had, on Friday, announced that it deployed officers to monitor the ongoing governorship and state house of assembly elections where the elections would be held.
It will be recalled that EFCC teams were similarly attacked during the presidential and national assembly elections, leaving some of its vehicles badly damaged.
Reacting to the incident, chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, commended the operatives for exercising great restraint under extreme provocation. He, however, appealed to the public to desist from attacking officers of the Commission as such action would no longer be tolerated.