Gunmen on Christmas Eve (Sunday) raided the Kaduna home of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina.
The gunmen were allegedly said to be in search of cash and ammunition in the house.
Residents of Kano Street, Kawo New Extension, Kaduna where the house is located, said some of the gunmen came in military uniform, while others were in mufti.
The spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Aliyu Mukhtar, who confirmed the incident, noted that the command got a report from the Divisional Police Office in Kawo regarding the raid.
“We got a report from the DPO Kawo of Police Station regarding the raid on Maina’s house. But we are yet to confirm whether they are really officials of the EFCC. The investigation is ongoing,” he told our correspondent on phone on Monday.
According to an eyewitness account, the gunmen came in a Hilux van, armed with guns and stationed in front of the house.
The gun-wielding men, the eyewitness said, had begun surveillance of the area between 5 pm and 8 pm when another car, a Peugeot 406 with plainclothes security personnel, forced the gate open and drove into the compound.
But on entering the house, the operatives met a security guard, Imrana Ahmadu, and quickly handcuffed him, just as they forced him to take them around the four-bedroom flat.
The 22-year-old Ahmadu while speaking with journalists said the gunmen continued to ask him whether the house belongs to Maina or whether he (Maina) was staying there.
Ahmadu said the gunmen told him that they were from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to carry out a search on the house for alleged hidden arms and ammunition as well as cash (money).
He said, “They came in military uniforms and Hilux van with another small car after they had forced the gate open around 8 pm.”
“They handcuffed me and started forcing doors open to the bedrooms. They turned everything upside down.”
“They were communicating with somebody somewhere in Hausa, directing them to one room or the other where to find cash.”
“They must have been disappointed because at the end, they found nothing, neither cash nor arms as they claimed.”
“They now drove away with me and dumped me in the bush along Mando Road close to the Kaduna International Airport.”
“They said I should go to any police station so that the police can unlock the handcuff on my hand.”
“I hid my handcuffed hand in my shirt so that nobody could suspect me and that was how I got a commercial motorbike that took me to the Kawo Police Station where the handcuff was unlocked.”
The spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, could not be reached on the telephone for comment.
