Pulse Opinion That clash between EFCC and DSS is really some hot mess

EFCC, DSS and Police personnel all clashed in Abuja. They've let their badges and their nation down.

It’s another day and another inter agency rivalry in Nigeria. Personnel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) had a disturbing clash in the Asokoro area of Abuja on Tuesday morning.

The gist is that the EFCC chaps had stormed apartments belonging to Amb Ayodele Oke (who was recently relieved of his job as boss of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, after that N13B was discovered in an Ikoyi apartment) and Ita Ekpeyong, immediate past Director of the DSS.

The EFCC was on the Mamman Nasir Street in the Asokoro district of the FCT to obviously arrest both men. That didn’t quite work out as planned.

Security personnel watching over the property of both former ‘big boys’ in the intelligence and security fields of our country, wouldn’t let the EFCC agents gain access to the property.

Call it resisting arrest.

DSS personnel (newsdesk)

A melee ensued. There was a shouting match and all security officers from the NIA, DSS, EFCC and Police got enmeshed in a brawl and some shouting match.

The standoff was so bad, sleepy Asokoro experienced a traffic snarl--enough to disrupt the morning commute to work.

We should be better than this, really.

Did the EFCC have a search warrant at all? I know that it is in the manner of security operatives to show up at places without warrants these days, but that doesn’t make it right.

Gestapo techniques in the process of bringing people before the law, belong in a different era.

As the anti-graft agency goes about its job of reining in ‘criminals’, it has to do so with civility and decorum.

ALSO READ: EFCC agents, police officers clash with DSS, NIA officials

All the security personnel who got themselves enmeshed in that brawl in Abuja, have let their badges, their agencies and the country down. When security agencies can't be trusted to sing from the same hymn sheet, how do we entrust them with keeping us safe and keeping us away from external attacks?

EFCC acting boss Ibrahim Magu (Punch)

Did the EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu, sanction this shoddy operation by his men? Was it impossible to invite Oke and Ekpeyong to the office of the EFCC? Could this have been done better?

Given that Oke and Ekpeyong are men who have served this country at the highest levels of our security institution, should they be treated as common thieves? Let’s also not forget that both men, whatever their alleged crimes, stand innocent until proven guilty.

In the final analysis, whenever there is a kerfuffle involving our security agencies, the rest of the world would be right to consider us insane and shameless.