Fear and confusion gripped the students and teachers of Goodwill Private Schools in Ikorodu, Lagos State, as armed operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stormed the school premises, ordering everyone out in a dramatic and chaotic scene.
Eyewitnesses who spoke with press described the incident, which took place on Thursday and Friday, as a terrifying ordeal and an attack on an academic institution that had existed since 2004.
Although press could not confirm if any student sustained serious injuries, a video obtained by our correspondent captured the moment a female student, overwhelmed by the chaos, was helped to the restroom by her classmates as she vomited before being rushed to the hospital.
Our correspondent gathered that the gun-wielding EFCC operatives reportedly refused to let students and staff members of the school retrieve their belongings and left pupils, including those in primary classes, in distress.
Recounting the harrowing experience, the school’s vice principal, Olalekan Adewale, told our correspondent how EFCC officials descended on the school “as if they were going to war.”
“The first time they showed up was on Thursday, and then again on Friday morning. It was as if they were going to war. They were about seven in number, armed to the teeth. They came and wrote on the wall. When I refused to sign the document they brought, they threatened to take me away,” Adewale recalled.
The VP, who was also the mathematics teacher, claimed he nearly fainted when the officials pointed guns at him and wanted to force him to sign a document that he knew nothing about.
“They pointed a gun at me and the children. The students panicked, running in different directions for safety. When they suspected I was about to record them, they seized my phone.
“They forced everyone out of their classrooms —students, teachers, everyone— without even allowing the children to take their school bags and belongings,” Adewale told press.
The proprietor of the school, Pastor Sunday Enikuomeyin, described the operation carried out by the EFCC operatives as sheer intimidation of the school staffers and innocent students.
“On Thursday, two armed EFCC officials, along with another officer, stormed the compound. Without hesitation, they began addressing the students, declaring that ‘the school now belongs to the EFCC.’
“They met with the vice principal, demanding he sign a document. But when he refused, stating that the management was not around, they became agitated,” Enikuomeyin said.
He described how the psychological impact of the operation took a toll on the students. “One of our students, overwhelmed by fear, started vomiting right there. We had to rush her to the hospital.
“The officers also tried to take the vice principal with them, but when the teachers and students stood their ground, refusing to let him go alone, they backed off,” he narrated.
During a telephone interview with our correspondent late Saturday night, the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, defended the operatives’ actions, stating that the operation was routine and part of an ongoing investigation into the school.
He dismissed the notion that the commission “stormed” the school, insisting that the management knew the property was under investigation.
“The property in question is under investigation. When a property is under investigation, we don’t need to inform anyone before our operatives visit. Our officers were only there to ensure the property was not tampered with. This was not an invasion; it was a routine visit,” Oyewale asserted.
When asked why students writing examinations were forcefully removed from their classrooms, Oyewale said, “They (the management) already knew the property was under investigation, so no activities should have been allowed there in the first place.
“The argument that people were ‘chased out’ does not stand because they were not supposed to be on the premises at all.”
He also justified the presence of armed officers, saying, “When you’re going for any law enforcement operation, you have to be armed. Resistance can occur anytime, and our officers must be prepared.”
