EFCC Officer Absconds With $30,000 From Kaduna Exhibit Room
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is facing another scandal after an officer at the Kaduna Zonal Office allegedly absconded with over $30,000 and other exhibits from the exhibit room.
Earlier this month, the EFCC revealed it had detained 10 officers in Lagos over missing operational items.
Though the commission did not specify the stolen items, Daily Nigerian investigations revealed they included gold bars worth over N1 billion, $180,000, and GBP 140,000.
In the latest incident, a staff member identified as Polycarp reportedly disappeared when an audit of the exhibit room was ordered.
“When the audit was announced, he asked to step out to ease himself and fled. All efforts to reach him failed as his phones were switched off,” a source said.
“This is only what the preliminary audit on foreign currency shows. There are chances that more could be uncovered after a thorough audit of the exhibit room,” another insider revealed.
The commission has launched a manhunt to trace the officer’s whereabouts.
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In 2019, an EFCC official was indicted for receiving $20,000 as a bribe from a businessman at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos.
Despite confessing to the crime, he was reinstated by the then Acting Chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Magu, and the matter was not made public.
In 2021, the anti-graft agency dismissed an officer after an audio leaked where he was heard advising suspects on unfreezing accounts and dropping charges.
“Without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation, snippets of the audio recording clearly showed an abysmally compromised ‘officer’ dropping names to ingratiate his benefactor, a relative of a crime suspect.
“By the alleged action, the said officer is no more than a corrupt fifth columnist with scant regard for the values of the commission,” said the then EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren.
On January 6, the commission announced the dismissal of 27 officers for various offences involving fraudulent activities and misconduct.
However, sources clarified that this figure represented the total dismissals since the EFCC’s establishment in 2003.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
