Wife of EFCC forensic expert opens up: ‘How gunmen killed my husband’

Mrs. Cecilia Muazu, widow of the late head of Forensic Unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdullahi Muazu who was shot dead in the early hours of the day at his Kaduna residence by unknown gunmen told Weekly Trust how her husband was killed.  She said the gunmen numbering about 10, […]

Mrs. Cecilia Muazu, widow of the late head of Forensic Unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdullahi Muazu who was shot dead in the early hours of the day at his Kaduna residence by unknown gunmen told Weekly Trust how her husband was killed.

 She said the gunmen numbering about 10, attacked their apartment at about 1am when they were asleep. She said the killers who were well armed, started their operation in the room before coming to attack them.

 “I was deeply asleep when they came. I did not hear them but my husband heard them while they were robbing the children in their room. He woke me up and told me that thieves were around. After they finished beating our children, they came to us. They hit at our door severally and knocked it down before they gained entrance,” she said.

 “When they entered, they asked him to “bring the money. He now asked them “which money?” Before a twinkle of an eye, one of them shot him in his leg. And after a few minutes, they shot him again on his belly. The bullet passed through his stomach. The gun they used appears like that of the police.”

 She said they could not inform the police on time because the robbers collected all their cell phones and that it was a neighbour who alerted the men of Operation Yaki, Kaduna’s security operatives.

 “They took away the money he withdrew from the bank on Monday to pay the school fees of our children, about N100, 000, and they also took his gun. You know, he was a retired police officer. When we offered them our car key, they refused,” she said.

 A neighbour who spoke to Weekly Trust said the killers went to many houses before locating the late EFCC officer’s house.

 “They went round and knocked at people’s doors before locating the deceased’s house. They even beat up a security guard in one of the houses they went to because he was not cooperating with them. They did not steal anything in all the buildings they went to. They only asked for the EFCC scribe,’’ she told our correspondent.

 A stepdaughter of the deceased, Beatrice Peter also told Weekly Trust that the killers were anxious to locate the late EFCC operative.

“When they came to our room, they were asking us of him. One of them then asked us to bring money, but Amina, my sister, told them that we don’t have money. They pounced on her and asked her to bring her bag. They beat us and collected our valuables. They were very particular about handsets,’’ she added.

 She also said that only the leader of the gang used a handkerchief to cover his face and he wore a baseball cap. Throughout the operation, he was not talking but the remaining members of the gang were busy discussing with each other even as the operation went on. They were not in a hurry at all. They spent some minutes in our room before they went to kill the EFCC operative.’’

 When contacted, the spokesperson of Kaduna State police command, DSP Aminu Lawan, confirmed the incident, dispelling the rumour that the case was that of assassination, saying it was an armed robbery case as the robbers went away with valuables of the deceased.

The EFCC, in a statement issued after the murder, confirmed that the deceased was until his death the officer in charge of its forensic unit. The commission also directed its operatives from Abuja to proceed to Kaduna to assist the relevant security agencies in the investigation of the murder.

 “Those behind this attack may have succeeded in killing a strategic hand and a key witness in some of our on-going cases, but their act has failed to dampen our spirit or deter us from continuing our investigation and prosecution of all forms of economic crimes and corruption in the country,” spokesman of the EFCC, Femi Babafemi, said.

 Meanwhile, a delegation of the EFCC led by one Aminudeen Mohammed has  visited the residence of the deceased. It was gathered that the delegation condoled the family on behalf of the commission and its chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri.

The deceased was buried at the Bashama Road cemetery on Tuesday, according to Islamic rites. A 3-day prayer was also held at the residence of his eldest son, Mohammed Abdullahi Muazu  in Gwandu Close, in Kabala Doki on Thursday. The late Muazu retired from the police as a superintendent before joining the EFCC, his family said. He was about 50 years old.

 In February, a former top detective of the EFCC, Danjuma Mohammed, who investigated alleged corruption cases of some top politicians in the country, was shot dead in Abuja by unknown gunmen. Mohammed, then an investigator attached to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), was killed by two gunmen in front of a new house he had just rented at Gwarinpa.