By Amos Aar & David Torough
THE OWNER of Joyous Hotel and Suites in Nyanya, Abuja, Gabriel Ogwuche Ogah, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over what he described as an illegal, violent, and destructive raid on his hotel by operatives of the Commission.
It would be recalled that the EFCC, in a statement issued on June 30, 2025, said its operatives arrested 74 suspected internet fraudsters at Joyous Hotel following “actionable intelligence” on their alleged involvement in cybercrime.
The Commission claimed that 86 mobile phones, a pistol, and three motorcycles were recovered from the premises and that the suspects would be charged to court. The statement was silent on whether the operatives obtained a search warrant.
However, speaking to journalists, Ogah denied the EFCC’s claims and alleged that armed men stormed the hotel around 2:00 AM without identification or a search warrant, assaulted staff, damaged property, and took away critical records and equipment.
“They destroyed our control room, removed our CCTV machines, broke down doors, and beat my staff,” he said. “Up till now, we don’t have any footage, records, or guest list for that night. They took everything.”
Ogah said the hotel, which is registered and taxed under the Nasarawa State Government, had previously been raided in a similar fashion on April 28, 2025, without explanation or official documentation.
In both incidents, he said, the operatives wore no identifiable uniforms and made no formal introductions.
According to him, his lawyer has submitted petitions to both the EFCC and the Inspector-General of Police, demanding an explanation and compensation for what he termed “an unlawful invasion and destruction of property.”
Hotel staff also gave accounts supporting Ogah’s claims.
A supervisor at the hotel, Vivian Azubuike recounted how men stormed the premises around 2 a.m., forced their way into the control room, seized CCTV footage, broke down doors, and physically assaulted employees.
“That very night around 2a.m in the morning, being 28th of April, 2025, I was inside my room that early morning, sleeping. I heard noise from the upper floor.
“On the upper floor, a lady was fighting with a guest. I heard the noise, I came out. I asked my security to go and bring the lady out and take her out.
“When my security was about to open the door, a group of men, dragged themselves out. They came inside the hotel.
“They came to my reception and dragged the key from my hand to enter our control room and they took our record, our CCTV record and they went upstairs and broke two doors and they classified themselves as EFCC.
“They broke three doors. They took two people away and they took our CCTV recording. And they slapped my quarter too.” Azubuike said.
Another supervisor, Apeh Monday, said the operatives arrived in the middle of the night, assaulted the receptionist, dismantled surveillance cameras from the gate to the reception, and arrested several workers without explanation.
“One of our guests jumped from a window, thinking it was armed robbers. He broke his leg. The porter who was slapped has since resigned,” Monday said.
The hotel owner questioned the EFCC’s claim that the suspects arrested were hotel guests and that a pistol was recovered from the premises.
“Some of them covered their faces. How can I know they were EFCC operatives? How do we even confirm the people arrested were our guests? We have no records. Now we are being labeled as harboring criminals,” he said.
Ogah further lamented the business losses suffered after the raid. “We borrowed money from the bank to run this hotel. Since the raid, we can’t even afford to buy diesel. The business has collapsed,” Ogah said.
He is now seeking the intervention of relevant authorities to investigate the raid and provide clarity on what he described as a dangerous trend of indiscriminate operations against law-abiding businesses.
All efforts to get further responses from the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale—especially on the alleged absence of search warrant—failed, as he did not respond to calls or text messages sent to him. Torough David also visited the EFCC office on Thursday, July 10, 2025, but was told at the gate that he would not be able to see the Public Relations Officer (PRO) because they were busy with an event.
