The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had secured more than 773 convictions and recovered billions of naira since its inception in 2003, the Chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, has said.
Lamorde who said this on Friday April 11, 2014, in Sokoto while inaugurating the Usman Danfodiyo University chapter of `Zero Tolerance Club, an anti-corruption club explained that the war against corruption, economic and financial crimes would only be won through concerted efforts.
Mr. Lamorde who was represented at the occasion by Osita Nwajah, Deputy Director, Public Affairs Department of the Commission, also delivered a paper entitled: “Students should lead the fight against economic and financial crimes.”
According to him, “economic and financial crimes constitute a great challenge to the Nigerian economy and our nation’s image, both at home and abroad. The Commission has been reorienting Nigerians not only to see the devastating effects of corruption, economic and financial crimes in all facets of our lives, but also to rise and do something about it,” he said.
The EFCC chairman, who expressed concern on the involvement of students in cyber crime, warned them to desist from using the Internet to defraud innocent people. “On a daily basis, the commission arrests, detains and prosecutes offenders in various cases of Internet scams,” he said; adding that 65 per cent of those arrested were undergraduates.
He said it hurts him so much to see the future leaders of Nigeria languish in jail, but added that the law must take its course.
In her address, Aisha Larai-Musa, Head, Enlightenment and Re-Orientation Unit of the Public Affairs Department of the Commission, also decried the high rate of criminal activities among students of tertiary institutions.
She listed some of the crimes perpetrated by students to include examination malpractice, advance fee fraud, cyber crime, extortion, bribery, cultism, identity theft, among others.
She said the inauguration of the Club, instituted in collaboration with the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, was part of efforts to find lasting solution to the problems in higher institutions. “The club, which is non-partisan and non-profit making, was conceived to promote awareness on corruption among students in tertiary institutions,” Ms. Larai-Musa said.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Riskuwa Shehu who was represented by his Deputy, Abubakar Bagudo, urged Nigerians to collectively and frontally fight corruption. “Unless this is done, the dream of achieving sustainable growth and development in Nigeria would continue to elude the nation,” Mr. Shehu warned.
Abubakar Usman, Chairman of the occasion, commended the initiative of the EFCC in introducing the Club, as he said that corruption has become a hydra-headed monster thwarting the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
Media & Publicity
11th April, 2014