The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has refuted claims by a Nollywood actress, Helen Duru, that its personnel stormed her house on early Saturday morning.
In a now-viral video, the actress shared a bloodied video of herself, stating that she was assaulted by men from the security agency.
However, reacting to the claims of the actress, the EFCC, via its official Instagram handle, debunked the allegation, referring the actress as ‘an upcoming actress, a mere publicity- seeking player, with a poorly- scripted claim.’
According to EFCC in a statement titled ‘False and Misleading Video in Circulation on EFCC Operations:’ “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to an online video trending on Instagram, from the handle of a certain “@iamhelenaduru”, a self-styled actress, purporting, quite mischievously, an assault by operatives of the Commission.
“Checks by the Commission, however, flagged Helen Aduru, an upcoming actress, as a mere publicity-seeking player, with a poorly- scripted claim that has fallen flat in the face of unassailable facts available to the Commission.
“In her script, she was quick to include five names of officers she claimed came from the Cybercrime Section of the Enugu Command of the Commission. Characteristically, EFCC’s officers don’t wear name tags nor move around with bulldozer-shaped equipment to pull down security doors.
“Aduru claimed, rather strangely, that she was assisted by a little boy, to a Police Station at 3:44 am but met the station shut. It is important to note that Police Stations are not civil service ministries that “close” in the evening. Even more preposterous is the fact that she never went back, at daybreak, to lodge a complaint.
“More poignantly untenable is the fact that her purported assault of July 21, 2022, which has not been logged nearly two months later at the Police Station, is only being brought to public glare on September 2, 2022!! Such a scene could only stand in a typical Nollywood fiction series.
“Such claims by Aduru, like all other stranger-than-fiction, click-baiting, sympathy-seeking ploys, do not merit a response but for the need to avoid ‘silence is acquiescence’ stance of mischief makers. Deeper checks on the matter only showed that certain blackmailers could be bandying some known names in the Enugu Zonal Command to settle some scores.”
The actress, who had revealed the encounter via her Instagram handle on Saturday, narrated her ordeal at the hands of the Enugu EFCC operatives, alleging that the security operatives tried gaining access to her apartment late at night, and once they did, they took turns in beating her.
In a lengthy post where she tagged the official Instagram handle of the EFCC, Ms Duru wrote: “Ccs department Enugu Zonal command of the economic and financial crime commission (EFCC) did this to me. Exactly 02:53 I heard a noise in my compound, then I gently came out at my balcony to peep what it was, I saw some men but couldn’t identify them as it was still dark. When they saw me, they asked me to come down and open the staircase door which I ignored and hid. They had flashlights. They kept insisting I open the staircase door. I later went inside my house.
“A few minutes on, I heard a boy screaming and crying for help. Then my neighbour called me to alert me. I told her I was awake, We both came out from our balconies ( She lives on the first floor) the men started shouting at us that we should go in or open the staircase gate. The next thing we heard they started damaging the staircase door and gained access. I went inside my room and locked the door. Two men climbed into my flat, damaged my two doors, gained access into my house and started beating me. I got a slap first that made me shout, Jesus Christ.
She continued, “They spoke in Hausa language but all I could hear was “yamiri” the beating became intense as they beat me in turns, using a rod/stick ( don’t exactly know what that was ) all over my body. One picked up my USB phone cord and descended on me.
“They kept speaking in Hausa as they beat me. I could feel the rage in them as I kept screaming Jesus. I feared for my life Then I ran into the bathroom and close the door. They try to push it down but the entrance was too slim for both of them. They left my room.
“I thought they came on their own accord, once I noticed they left my room. I tried to come down to inform whoever is their superior what had happened, another one saw me, without saying a word he took his instrument and repeatedly hit my head screaming “get out, go up”, I tried to explain why I had come down but he made sure he repeatedly hit my head until I felt fluid dripping on my face. I wiped my face and saw it was blood. (continue from the pictures). Please me repost this until it gets to the right authorities.”(sic)