We don’t collect money before releasing suspects from detention – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), has revealed that the anti-graft agency does not charge any fee before releasing detained suspects to lawyers or family members.

Acting Commander, Ibadan Zonal Command of the commission, Halima Rufa’u made this disclosure on Wednesday when she received the executive committee members of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA led by its chairman, Folashade Aladeniyi.

She warned lawyers to desist from standing as “surety” and legal representative at the same time to suspects.

Rufa’u explained that such an act could not only get them into trouble, but it also does not portray the legal profession in good light.

“In the event the suspect was released and later jumps administrative bail, the Commission will have no choice than to arrest the lawyer first, before going after other sureties”, Rufa’u warned.

On her part, Aladeniyi commended the EFCC for its efforts in curbing cybercrime and related fraud activities in Oyo State.

The NBA chairman said; “I want to commend the Ibadan Zonal Command and the EFCC at large for its activities towards curbing economic and financial crimes, especially cybercrime in the country. This is evident in the statistics of convictions secured by the Commission over the years”.

Meanwhile in other news…

A Nigerian model and beauty consultant, Ciata Jolie, recently cried out online after being scammed by a man she transacted business with out of trust.

The entrepreneur revealed in a video on her Instagram page that she was scammed of all her life savings in less than a month.

She said that she had saved for a very long time for several years and after she lost the money, she has experienced tough times this year.

Ciata said that her dream was to have a landed property and in December 2022, she took money she saved to her hometown.

She said that she saw a piece of land in her state and approached the owner who revealed that he inherited the land from his father. According to the makeup artiste, te guy gave her assurance that he is trust worthy and has undergone traditional rites to ensure he lives a honest life.

Ciata believed him because he was very convincing, so she gave him the first payment of N4 million, after which he signed the necessary documents. Unfortunately for her, when she started fencing the land in January 2023, her father joined her in working on the land.

She explained that before she started work on the land, she paid N400,000 out of which N350,000 was development fee.

The young lady said as she was preparing to leave the village, she got a phone call from someone who laid claim to the same land. She was thrown off balance, and worse off the other man claiming ownership drew a skull like figure on the fence to ward off people.

Ciata said she later discovered that the land had been sold before and the person she paid N4million was notorious for running that kind of land sale scam which she was a victim of. In sharing her woes, the lady advised others not to allow themselves to be fooled by religion or any other beliefs.

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