Twenty-seven officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been sacked from by the anti-graft agency for engaging in fraudulent activities and for misconduct.
The development is said to be part of the agency’s quest to enforce integrity and rid its fold of fraudulent elements,
Dele Oyewale, EFCC Head, Media and Publicity, made this known in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja.
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He said the officers were dismissed for various offences bordering on fraudulent activities and misconduct.
Oyewale added that the dismissal of the 27 officers followed the recommendations of the agency’s staff disciplinary committee which was ratified by the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede.
The statement reads: “In its quest to enforce integrity and rid its fold of fraudulent elements, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, dismissed 27 officers from its workforce in 2024.
“The officers were dismissed for various offences bordering on fraudulent activities and misconduct.
“Olukoyede reiterated the commitment of the commission to zero tolerance for corruption, warning that no officer is immune to disciplinary measures.
“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 core values of the commission are sacrosanct and would always be held in optimal regard at all times.
“The commission also wishes to alert the public of 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.
“Two members of an alleged syndicate, Ojobo Joshua and Aliyu Hashim were recently arraigned before Justice Jude Onwuebuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abujaz for allegedly contacting a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Kaka and demanding $1million from him for Olukoyede to give him soft landing on a non-existing investigation. 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.”
