EFCC Dismisses 27 Officers For Misconduct, Fraudulent Activities
As part of its quest and determination to enforce integrity and rid its fold of fraudulent elements, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has announced the dismissal of 27 of its officers from its workforce in 2024.
This was as the EFCC alerted the public to the sinister activities of impersonators and blackmailers using the name of its Executive Chairman to extort money from high-profile suspects being investigated by the EFCC.
It stressed that the core values of the Commission are sacrosanct and would always be held in optimal regard at all times.
The EFCC in a statement on Monday, January 6, 2024, by Dele Oyewale, head of its Media and Publicity, said the affected officers were dismissed for various offences bordering on fraudulent activities and misconduct.
Oyewale said that their dismissal followed the recommendation of the Staff Disciplinary Committee of the anti-graft body and was ratified by the Executive Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede.
The spokesman of the Commission stressed the commitment of the EFCC to zero tolerance for corruption, and warned that no officer is immune to disciplinary measures.
In the words of Oyewale; “Every modicum of allegation against any staff of the Commission would always be investigated, including a trending $400,000 claim of a yet-to-be-identified supposed staff of the EFCC against a Sectional Head.
The EFCC noted that two members of an alleged syndicate, Ojobo Joshua and Aliyu Hashim were recently arraigned before Justice Jude Onwuebuzie of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for allegedly contacting a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Kaka and demanding $1million from him for the chairman of the Commission to give him “soft landing” on a non-existing investigation.
According to the EFCC; “Such characters are still on the loose seeking victims. Olukoyede remains a man of integrity that cannot be swayed by monetary influences. The public is enjoined to always report such disreputable elements to the Commission.
“Additionally, the EFCC is aware of moves being hatched in some quarters to blackmail officers of the Commission through unwholesome means. Suspects being investigated for some economic and financial crimes who have failed to compromise their investigators would always clutch at any straw.
“Such blackmailers should not be accorded any form of attention,” the anti-graft agency said.
