The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has issued a clarification over the controversial incident involving its operatives and staff of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, stating that no arrests or detentions were made during the visit to the hospital.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft agency said its operatives were at the hospital on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, strictly for an administrative assignment.
According to the statement, the operatives visited the facility “purely administrative, to facilitate the authentication of a document, rather than a tactical operation to effect arrest.”
The Commission dismissed reports circulating online that hospital staff were arrested or detained, insisting that the workers who accompanied EFCC officials to the Uyo Zonal Directorate were neither arrested nor held against their will.
“The staff of the hospital that followed our operatives to the Zonal Command were not detained,” the statement said.
The EFCC, however, expressed concern over allegations that some hospital workers were brutalised during the incident, noting that it had commenced an internal investigation into the matter.
“The Commission is outraged by the allegations of brutalisation of staff of the hospital,” Oyewale stated.
“Even though we have not seen any physical evidence of such brutality in terms of bodily harm or injury to anyone, including to the staff members who addressed the media on this issue, the Commission, as a responsible organisation, has ordered an investigation into the incident.”
The anti-corruption agency further assured the public that any of its personnel found culpable of violating operational procedures would face disciplinary action.
“While awaiting the outcome of this inquiry, any staff of the Commission found to have deviated from the Standard Operating Procedure of the Agency will not be spared,” the statement added.
The EFCC also acknowledged the intervention of stakeholders seeking a peaceful resolution of the controversy and warned against attempts to exploit the incident to discredit anti-corruption efforts in the country.
The Commission described the May 12 episode as “an aberration” and urged Nigerians not to allow “fifth columnists” to use the matter to undermine the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
