Ondo Club Owners Count Losses From EFCC Invasion

Ondo State Lounge and Club Owners Association yesterday alleged that the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) who raided some clubs in the Alagbaka area of Akure, the capital city of Ondo damaged clubs and brutalised their customers.

Addressing journalists in Akure, the state capital, the club owners further alleged that all the guests were seriously dealt with, while the commission’s operatives took away their CCTV engine.

The association chairman, Mr Abayomi Ajepe, who described the EFCC’s action as “barbaric,” appealed to the federal government to check the commission’s excessiveness.

Ajepe said, “These people came from the Ibadan office of the EFCC because initially, we thought they were armed robbers. So, we are telling the whole world we are unhappy with what happened.

“They took away the cameras, phones, and CCTVs, along with about 127 people and some of them were still there. So why are they denying their operations here in Akure? We want the government to check this unacceptable attitude in our community.”

One of the managers of the affected clubs, Ayo Abbas Akinwande, who narrated how the EFCC raided his club, disclosed that after the operatives of the commission gained access to their premises they rounded everybody up and instructed them to lie down on the floor.

Akinwande said, “They used snooker sticks to beat people to comply. Both male and female customers were dealt with mercilessly. Other members of their team went into the club and rounded everyone up, releasing tear gas in the process.”