EFCC Probes UUTH Incident, Vows to Punish Operatives Found Guilty of Misconduct

ByEditor

May 15, 2026 #anti-corruption agency Nigeria, #Dele Oyewale, #EFCC brutality allegations, #EFCC investigation, #EFCC news Nigeria, #EFCC operatives, #EFCC sanctions, #EFCC UUTH incident, #UUTH staff incident, #Uyo University Teaching Hospital

Matilda Omonaiye/

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched an investigation into the controversial incident involving its operatives and staff of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.

It vowed that any officer found to have breached the agency’s operational procedures will be punished.

In a statement issued on Friday by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft agency said it was deeply concerned by allegations that hospital workers were brutalised during the encounter at the Uyo University Teaching Hospital on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

The Commission, however, maintained that its operatives were at the hospital strictly on an administrative assignment to authenticate a document and not to carry out arrests, contrary to widespread reports circulating on social media.

According to the EFCC, no member of staff of the hospital was arrested or detained, adding that those who accompanied operatives to the Uyo Zonal Directorate later returned without being held.

The agency said it was “outraged” by allegations of assault and excessive use of force by its personnel, even though it had yet to receive evidence showing bodily injuries or physical harm to any of the hospital staff involved.

Despite this, the Commission said it had ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident and pledged that any operative found to have violated the EFCC’s Standard Operating Procedure would face disciplinary action.

“The May 12 incident was an aberration,” the statement noted, while assuring medical workers and the wider public that the agency remained committed to professionalism in carrying out its anti-corruption mandate.

The EFCC also appealed for calm and urged stakeholders not to allow the controversy to be exploited by what it described as “fifth columnists” seeking to undermine the fight against corruption in Nigeria.