Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, were allegedly detained by students of the Federal College of Forestry, Jericho, Ibadan.
According to The Nation, an unidentified source claimed that the EFCC operatives were in the school to arrest suspected internet fraudsters.
The operatives were said to have been locked in the hostel as the students mobilise to resist any operation.
The lockup, it was gathered, made the EFCC call for Police backup to help secure the release of the operatives.
The source said, “The information I gathered is that EFCC came to arrest a student at the Federal College of Forestry, Jericho, Ibadan.
“The students detained the EFCC operatives and called on the Chief Security Officer of the school who later took the officials to a meeting in the school board room.
“The students were all over the place which made the EFCC operatives call for Police back up into the school. Those (the police) were the ones shooting sporadically to scare the students and get them off the EFCC officers’ back.”
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According to another account of the incident, the EFCC operatives were misled by a suspect under investigation to evade arrest.
The source said, “It was a member of staff that the EFCC operatives came for. The staff is under investigation by the EFCC and claimed to be a staff of the College.
“The EFCC operatives had picked him up at FRIN but he led them to the College on the pretext that he is a staff of the College.
“On getting to the College, he apparently played on their intelligence by leading them to the student hostel area, maybe in a bid to evade arrest.
“But when the students saw the EFCC operatives on campus and around the hostel, armed with guns, they were surprised and quickly mobilised and locked the entrances of the hostel.
“So, after they were detained, they had to get in touch with the school Chief Security Officer (CSO) and other top management staff.
“In fact, it was DSS officials that came to rescue the detained EFCC operatives. A woman drove the DSS van and smashed the entrance gate padlock with the butt of her gun.
“The lady drove with one hand and was shooting into the air with the other. The case has been reported at the Police Headquarters, Eleyele Ibadan.”
However, all the sources explained that the situation which led to a slight pandemonium within the College premises saw many students and staff scampering for safety while the shooting lasted.
The sources confirmed that a truce was later brokered when the students, after the persuasion by the school authority, released the EFCC operatives who were later hosted to a meeting at the school board room.
