By Matthew Atungwu The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has secured the conviction of about 60 persons standing trial...
By Matthew Atungwu
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has
secured the conviction of about 60 persons standing trial for financial
offences in Rivers State within the year.
The anti-graft agency also noted that from its records,
internet fraud was top of the convictions and criminal cases it is
investigating, urging the public to provide it with useful information to aid
its operation.
The Commission made this disclosure during an
Anti-Corruption walk in Port Harcourt organized by the Port Harcourt Zonal
Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in conjunction with
Civil Society Organisations and Sister security agencies and Relief
International Africa to mark the 2024 African Union Anti-Corruption Day,
tagged, ‘Effective WhistleBlower Protection Mechanism, A Critical Tool in the
fight against Corruption’.
The Acting Zonal Director of EFCC, Port Harcourt Zonal
Directorate, Adebayo Adeniyi, said oil theft is one of the crimes that makes
corruption fighting in the state peculiar, noting that criminality is high in
the state.
“I have been here for over three months. I came in from
Abuja and I noticed that the kind of criminal offences that happen here are
quite different because the terrain is different. Here you see bunkering and
all of that, we don’t see those kinds of things in Abuja.
“The offence and criminal acts are different here. In that
case you might have a bit of a high level of criminal activity here because of
the activities here,” Adeniyi said.
According to the Acting Director, the commission within the
year has successfully secured the conviction of 60 persons standing corruption
charges, adding that Internet fraud ranks high in the state.
Adeniyi said: “We have a lot of people under prosecution,
but so far we have over 60 convictions, we have had this year. And we are going
because we have a lot of cases in court. There are a lot of offences committed
and a lot of investigations going on. The legal department and the operations
departments are putting in their best.
“I am new in Rivers State, but I have not seen a lot of
whistleblowers, but with this campaign today, it will bring awareness to the
people. If you don’t communicate with people, they would not know you can
communicate with them and receive this kind of information. We wish to inform
them that they are safe when they give us information.
“Looking at it. You will see that internet fraud is always
at a high level. We know our youths these days are every opportunity they go
into internet fraud. So, the level of crime is high, that is why you see that
we are trying to clamp down on them and see how we can reduce it.”
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