SaharaReporters learnt that the invasion happened in the early hours of Friday (today). The management of the hospital said the EFCC operatives confiscated all the closed-circuit television equipment, also known as video surveillance cameras found on the premises, to cover their tracks and destruction of security doors.
The management of Bintoo Hotel Limited, a prominent hospitality establishment, has condemned the alleged invasion and destruction of the facilities by personnel of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), during a midnight raid.
SaharaReporters learnt that the invasion happened in the early hours of Friday (today). The management of the hospital said the EFCC operatives confiscated all the closed-circuit television equipment, also known as video surveillance cameras found on the premises, to cover their tracks and destruction of security doors.
Videos of the aftermath of the raid which reportedly began at exactly 1:17 am on Friday, which were obtained by SaharaReporters, show broken television sets and damaged doors. Some doors had been pulled down while chairs and tables had been smashed and broken.
In one of the videos seen by SaharaReporters, some doors appear to have been hit with a sledgehammer. Some of the rooms were turned upside down.
Speaking with SaharaReporters on the telephone, the hotel manager, Mr Adebisi Isiaka, decried the actions of the EFCC personnel, describing it as worse than an armed robbery attack.
Isiaka said that despite cooperating with the personnel who invaded the property by handing over master keys, they chose to damage all the doors with a sledgehammer, which was described by the hotel management as criminal.
Narrating how the EFCC operatives invaded the property, Isiaka said: "This midnight exactly 1.17 am, some buses and patrol vans just came in and dropped some people at the gate of the hotel.
“Immediately one of them jumped the fence inside the compound carrying a sledgehammer. He proceeded to break the padlock of the gate and the remaining of them came inside and parked. Because the CCTV captured them when they jumped the fence and broke the gate, they started dismantling all our CCTV camera machines. They held all the staff outside hostage and asked us for master card keys.
"We gave them the master card to open the door but they didn't use the master card, instead they used a sledgehammer to break all the doors and brought all the lodgers outside.”
"They now asked them who got the car or okada (motorbikes), so they now collected the keys from all of them. They now went inside the reception and looked for the key to the Range Rover vehicle parked in the compound and drove it away. Even our policemen attached to the property were talking to them but they did not answer them," he narrated.
In an official statement in response to the invasion, the management of the hotel expressed dismay at the incident, which led to what they described as the infringement of guests' fundamental rights and significant property damage estimated to be worth millions of naira.
The management, however, assured the public that a comprehensive investigation into the matter was underway as the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had ordered a stop to night raids by personnel of the agency.
Emphasising the hotel's commitment to pursuing the case through all available legal means within the framework of Nigerian law to address the grievances arising from the incident, the hotel management asked why the operatives, despite having a master card to open the doors, chose to damage all the doors and other things without any confrontation.
"Bintoo Hotel Limited vowed to rectify any lapses and make amends for any damages resulting from the unfortunate occurrence.
"To reassure patrons and stakeholders, the hotel management affirmed that its operations would continue without interruption.
"Additionally, they pledged to implement enhanced security measures aimed at preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future, thereby safeguarding the welfare and interests of all clientele," the statement partly read.
Efforts made by SaharaReporters to speak with the EFCC's Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.