- Anti-graft agency launches manhunt for fleeing officer
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is entangled in another internal scandal as an officer in charge of Kaduna Zonal Office’s exhibit room allegedly absconded with over $30,000 and other valuable exhibits.
In the latest scandal, it was reliably gathered that a member of staff of the commission, simply identified as Polycarp, vanished when he failed to account for “over $30,000”.
Insiders who preferred anonymity said that the zonal director, Benedict Ubi, a couple of weeks ago ordered for an audit of the directorate’s exhibit room, following the internal heist that occurred in Lagos.
According to the sources, when Polycarp received the directive that the exhibit room would be audited, he took an excuse to ease himself and fled.
“Immediately after the order for the audit was given, he made an excuse to ease himself. Efforts were made to contact him but all his telephone lines were switched off.
“This is only what the preliminary audit on foreign currency shows. There are chances that more could be uncovered after a thorough audit of the exhibit room,” said a source familiar with the development.
It was learnt that the commission had launched a manhunt to trace the fleeing officer’s whereabouts.
Earlier in January, the country’s flagship anti-corruption agency said it had detained 10 officers in Lagos over theft of operational items they could not account for.
The officers were arrested in connection with the theft of some operational items that they could not account for.
The commission on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, stated that the 10 officers detained were from the Lagos Zonal Command of the agency.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said that the 10 officers were being detained in respect of investigation of some missing items involving them.
Oyewale said the action was an ongoing effort to sweep EFCC clean of corrupt tendencies.
The officers, who were arrested on the directives of the Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, answered questions related to the theft of some operational items that they could not account for.
Although the commission did not disclose the specific items stolen by the officials, it was revealed that they stole gold bars worth over N1 billion as well as over $180,000 and about GBP140, 000.
In 2019, an official of the commission was indicted for receiving $20,000 as bribe from a business man at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State.
Despite his confession to the crime, he was reinstated by the then acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu.
The matter was not made public.
In 2021, the anti-graft agency dismissed an officer in a leaked audio in which he was heard helping suspects on how their accounts could be unfrozen and charges dropped against them.
The then spokesman for EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, described the officer as “a corrupt fifth columnist with scant regard for the values of the commission,” adding that his action was contemptuous of the Standard Operating Procedure of the EFCC.
“Without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation, snippets of the audio recording clearly showed an abysmally compromised ‘officer’ dropping names to ingratiate his benefactor, a relative of a crime suspect.
“By the alleged action, the said officer is no more than a corrupt fifth columnist with scant regard for the values of the commission.”
When contacted for clarification, Oyewale did not respond to our inquiries.
EFCC arrests 37 suspected internet fraudsters in Anambra
Meanwhile, operatives of the EFCC, Enugu Zonal Command, have arrested 37 suspected internet fraudsters in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
According to a statement by the anti-graft agency on Wednesday, the arrest followed credible intelligence linking the suspects to fraudulent internet activities.
“The all-male suspects were arrested in a sting operation at Commissioners’ Quarters, Dr. J. O. Ukwutinife Close, Ifite, Awka, Anambra State, following credible intelligence linking them to fraudulent internet activities,’ the statement read in part.
It noted that items recovered from the suspects include six luxury cars, several laptops, and mobile phones believed to be tools used in their alleged fraudulent schemes.
The anti-graft agency reaffirmed its commitment to combating cybercrime, warning that it would leave no stone unturned in its efforts to rid society of criminal activities.
