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Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) on Monday disclosed that it had recovered
over N5 billion stolen from oil subsidy, while more
than forty suspects are being prosecuted in court for
the crime.
The Chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Lamorde,
made the disclosure at a workshop organised for
Journalists in the South-east zone held in Enugu.
Tagged: “Effective Reporting on Financial Crimes”, the
EFCC chairman noted that it owed its modest
achievements in the last eleven years to the active
support of the Nigerian media and urged the them
to act as whistle blowers by beaming searchlights on
areas where corrupt practices thrive in the country.
According to him, “The anti-graft war cannot be won
without the support of the media. We rely on you to
help carry the message of anti- corruption to
Nigerians and mobilise them to buy into the anti-
corruption campaign as the anti-graft agencies
alone cannot win the fight against corruption in the
country.”
The anti-graft boss also revealed that the commission
was investigating a case of fraud in an old
generation bank in Port Harcourt, where a customer,
working with his wife who works with the financial
institution, defrauded the bank of N855 million.
Though he said that other accomplices in the scam
were at large, Lamorde noted that the suspect,
Uchenna Ogbonnaya Dike, cashed in on system
glitches to perpetrate the scam over a period of five
months, by transferring funds from the bank into
accounts in the new generation bank.
The EFCC helmsman urged the media to be prepared
to track the trial of corruption cases as that would
not only help in putting such matters in public
consciousness, it would also be a disincentive for
compromise by “errant judicial officers”.
The workshop captured topics like: New Media and
Economic Crimes Reporting, Investigative Journalism
and Financial Crimes Reporting; and Media Ethics
and Financial Crimes Reporting delivered by media
experts that included Dotun Adekanbi, Egbuchukwu
Nwaja and Blessing Olaifa respectively.
The resource persons noted that gross corruption,
absence of good governance and lack of transparent
leadership were endemic in the country because
“economic crimes are frequently committed by people
with considerable degree of respect in the country.”
They advocated for a synergy with the media
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