EFCC chairman honours slain officer with posthumous bravery award

• Assures speedy payment of death benefit

From Sola Ojo, Abuja

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has conferred a Posthumous Award of Bravery on a slain officer of the Commission, Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, ASE II, Aminu Harisu Sahabi.

He disclosed this in Sokoto on Friday, 7 February 2025, when he paid a condolence visit to the family of the late officer at the Gawon Nama area of Sokoto metropolis, Sokoto State.

Sahabi was killed in cold blood in Awka, Anambra State, on 17 January 2025, while on an official assignment to apprehend suspected internet fraudsters.

Accompanied by the Director of Finance and Accounts of the Commission, Commander of the EFCC, CE Ahmed Pate; Acting Director of the Sokoto Zonal Directorate, DCE Nwanneka Nwokike; and management staff of the EFCC Sokoto Zonal Directorate, Olukoyede consoled the bereaved family, assuring them that the Commission shares in their pain.

“As a Commission, we share in the pain and grief of the loss, but we cannot question the time that the Lord calls us home. The late Aminu was a gallant officer full of promise and in the service of his fatherland when he met with the tragic incident. Indeed, Allah gives and Allah takes,” he remarked.

He further said, “I am personally here to assure you that his sacrifice will never be forgotten, nor will those accused of the heinous act of his murder be allowed to go free. They must, and they will, face the full wrath of the law.

“There is nothing on earth that can replace the loss of a loved one, but let us be consoled that Allah’s timing cannot be questioned and continue to pray for the repose of his soul,” he added.

The EFCC boss then conferred a Posthumous Award for Bravery on the late officer and presented a Condolence Letter on behalf of the EFCC and the Federal Government of Nigeria to the family.

Continuing, the EFCC’s boss stressed, “Going forward, I want to assure you that the family will not be forgotten, as I will make time to visit intermittently because, for us in the EFCC, we are a family. We have finished processing the benefits of the late officer, and they will be released to the next of kin immediately.”

Responding on behalf of the late officer’s family, Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaibu, JCA, thanked the Executive Chairman and his team for the visit. He commended the Commission for its intervention in conveying the late officer’s corpse home for burial.

His words: “I was literally on the phone with the Chairman consecutively after the incident, and we also saw the delegation of the EFCC during the burial of our son, led by the Secretary to the Commission.”

He added, “As a family, we also express our gratitude to the Commission for naming a building at the EFCC Academy, Abuja, after our son to immortalise his sacrifice.”

Earlier, upon arrival at the EFCC’s Sokoto Zonal Directorate, Olukoyede inspected a guard of honour and held meetings with officers of the Commission.