The Zonal Director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Uyo Zonal Directorate, Oshodi Johnson, has dismissed the notion that agency is being used to persecute Nigerians, stressing that all the operations of the Commission are intelligence driven.
Oshodi stated this at a workshop for journalists and Civil Society Organisations in Akwa Ibom State, held on Thursday, in Uyo.
He explained that there was no one arrested or invited for questioning over suspected financial crime without having intelligence on the issue from members of the public or having questions to answer. He, therefore called for collaboration with the public, urging them o avail the Commission with useful and credible intelligence on suspected financial and cyber criminals.
He said, “Please I want the public to ignore the stereotype, EFCC is not an organisation that persecutes. We are an intelligence driven organization. I want to assure you that no person can be invited to the Commission without having intelligence about him. It’s wrong that everybody wants to hide under the cover of persecution.”
Oshodi revealed that financial and cybercrimes have taken another dimension highlighting the level of fraud being perpetuated through cryptocurrency and other digital transactions even as he urged the public to be wary of these antics.
In his paper tagged, ‘Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud and Other Emerging Financial Crimes’, Emeka Ukpai observed that new fraud techniques and technologies emerge everyday.
He further observed that most stolen funds are now hidden in wallets while some use cryptocurrencies to hide gains and evade taxes through what he described as “new offshore banking.”
Also speaking, Head, Legal and Prosecution Department, Uyo Directorate, Ifeyinwa Azegbeobor, lamented that Nigeria loses billions of naira annually to corruption and fraud. He stressed that prosecution of financial crimes should be taken seriously to deter people from venturing into it.
She stated that the CSOs and journalists have a role to play in the fight against corruption by vetting tip-offs, evidence preservation and verification of information before going to press for the media practitioners.
“Civil Society and journalism are essential partners as evidence gatherers, monitors and public educators, but they must work with prosecutors responsibly to avoid undermining fair trials,” she said.
On his part, the spokesperson of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, in a paper entitled, ‘The Role of CSOs and Media in Driving a Preventive Framework’, urged the media to work towards changing the erroneous perception of the public towards the Commission.
He also urged them to partner with the EFCC in the fight against corruption.
Oyewale who was represented by Aisha Mohammed, Head of Enlightenment and Reorientation, EFCC, said the Commission believes in prevention of crime hence the idea of setting up of anti corruption clubs in secondary and tertiary institutions to instill into young people the spirit of aversion to crime.
He, therefore urged the public to feed the Commission with credible information or genuine complaint when neccesary by sending in their concerns to EFCC official social media platforms, hotline 0809-3322644 or to the nearest office saying that fight against corruption is fight for all and not for the agency alone.