From James Ojo, Abuja
Armed men on Tuesday night attacked an unoccupied residence of acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, at his farm in Karshi, a suburb of Abuja, killing a policeman.
The gunmen stormed Magu’s house at about 10pm and subdued a police officer and another civilian working on the property and tied them up before beating the duo to a pulp.
“The policeman died from the beating,” a source close to the EFCC boss’s family disclosed.
The farmstead was placed under police security a few months ago after an attack in which the uncompleted house was ransacked in suspicious circumstances.
The attack on the property was also followed not long afterward by a dawn attack on the EFCC office in Abuja in August.
“That was what warranted additional security around Mr. Magu and his family,” the source explained.
The motive behind the latest attack was hazy as the attackers also carted away five heads of cattle and some sheep that were being reared in the compound.
Police officers have already been drafted to the crime scene for investigation.
The attack came 48 hours after Magu led a nationwide sensitisation campaign against the evils of corruption.
Magu had, on Monday, led staff of the commission and other anti-graft agencies, Civil society organisations and other stakeholders in the war against corruption to stage a walk to bring the war into the national space.
Yesterday, spokesman for the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, confirmed that some yet to be identified gunmen raided a property belonging to Magu.
He disclosed that the attack, which took place on Tuesday night claimed the life of a security detail guarding the property. Magu was not residing in the house.
According to him, “the property, a farmhouse, located in Karshi, a suburb of Abuja, was attacked by unknown gunmen at about 10pm on December 12, 2017.
“The unidentified men murdered a police sergeant on duty. The incident was the second such attack on the same farmhouse,” he added.
The spokesperson stated that while the commission would not speculate on the motives for the attack or the sponsors, “the EFCC, under the leadership of Ibrahim Magu, will not be deterred in its mission of ridding Nigeria of corruption.”
Magu was living in Karshi before his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari to head the anti-graft agency on November 15, 2015.
He moved to a secured property in Asokoro District following a security breach, the acquisition of the property was one of the reasons used by the Department of State Service to question the integrity of Magu, which the Senate used to withhold Magu’s confirmation to head the commission.