Bawa ends speech abruptly after feeling unwell at an event in Aso Rock

Abdulrasheed Bawa, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), felt unwell while speaking at an event in Abuja.

Bawa stopped his remarks abruptly on Thursday at an event organised by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) at the presidential villa.

The EFCC chairman told the audience that he needed to leave the stage immediately.

At the beginning of his remarks, he said he would leave early because the management of the anti-graft agency lost an official.

“There was a time we seized 162 SIM cards from one person… I will need to stop here,” he said.

The development halted the event abruptly for about 20 minutes.

Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, escorted him out of the banquet hall.

And a few minutes later, he was taken away from the venue of the programme.

The camera of a Silverbird Television (STV) journalist was seized by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS). The journalist was filming the incident.

The cameraman was asked to leave the hall and was also directed to delete the footage.

Editor’s note: This report has been edited to reflect the actual account.