Sting operation: EFCC denies targeting Obasanjo, arraigns suspects today

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has denied that the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, was the target of its recent sting operation in which 93 suspected internet fraudsters were arrested.

The management of the OOPL had on Wednesday condemned the night operation and the arrest of guests at the guest house withing the OOPL facilities, describing the operation as a calculated attack ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and “a stark and blatant violation of the rights of the people who gathered for the event.”

The OOPL management demanded N3.5bn in compensation as well as public apology within seven days, failing which it would go to court.

However, in a statement on Thursday, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said the arrests took place at a hotel located within the precincts of the OOPL and not at the library itself.

He explained that the operation followed intelligence reports that the suspects were holding a pool party to celebrate alleged illicit activities

According to him, the party was initially planned for two other locations but was moved to the hotel within OOPL’s premises in an attempt to evade detection.

Oyewale said profiling of the suspects revealed that almost all were implicated in offences including impersonation, identity theft, and internet fraud.

Sequel to the arrest of 93 suspected internet fraudsters at a hotel within the precincts of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the EFCC will, on Friday, August 15, 2025, arraign 23 of the suspects before Justice D. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos,” he said.

“The arraignment, to be conducted in batches, follows their arrest at a pool party where they were celebrating their exploits. The party was initially planned to hold in two locations but was shifted to the hotel in OOPL ostensibly to escape possible arrest. The planners got wind of the Commission’s intelligence and scampered to the OOPL expecting a sort of cover from arrest. The former president’s facility was not a target of EFCC’s operations. The suspects were the target and have confessed to involvement in internet crimes.”

Oyewale added that the arraignment of the remaining suspects would follow shortly.