Don’t wait until you suffer loss; move against corruption — Ag. EFCC Chair, Chukkol tells Nigerians

By Demola Akinyemi,Ilorin

The Acting Executive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr. Abdulkarim Chukkol, has urged Nigerians not to wait until they suffer any loss before they move against corrupt practices.

This is contained in an address he delivered at a one-day media Training/Workshop organized by the EFCC for print/electronics/online reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital on Thursday.

“Economic and financial crimes remain a threat to our individual and corporate progress.

” It is not only by being a victim of these crimes that we suffer losses. We also suffer limitations when our neighbours, colleagues, institutions and nation fall prey to them.

“This means that we should not wait until we suffer any loss before we move against corrupt practices.” he said.

Represented by the Zonal Head of the Anti-graft Agency, Michaels Nzekwe, at the workshop on, “Effective Reporting of Economic and Financial Crimes he also said that the Commission would redouble its efforts towards tackling activities of illegal solid mineral operators in Kwara state.

He said this became necessary because their activities,”pose grave threats to the local and national economy, through non- payment of royalties, taxes and other dues.

“The Commission has been active in tackling their criminalities and will continue to ensure that extant laws against illegal miners are enforced.”he stressed

He added that cybercrime is a major crime, particularly, among undergraduates and fresh graduates of tertiary institutions due to presence of a number of academic institutions in the state

He said that the Workshop is one of the modest efforts of the Commission to build synergy and foster a more engaging relationship with the media.

The guest lecturer and renowned journalist,Dele Oyewale who spoke on “Investigative Journalism and Nigeria’s Fight against Money Laundering”described it as a type of Journalism that uncovers what is covered, hidden , restricted, unknown and unimagined

He however said he was disappointed that because of dearth of Investigative Journalism ,journalists today are no more celebrated but tolerated.

“Investigative Reporting In Nigeria is minimal. Corruption reporting, drug trafficking reporting, social injustice reporting, environmental pollution reporting, justice miscarriage, crime reporting are scarcely Investigative,”he said.

He noted that the money an average journalist is yearning for is hidden inside Investigative Journalism,waiting to be unlocked and urged practitioners to key into it,stressing that every profession has its own hazard.

Oyewale also urged journalists to shun press statement Journalism that is now rampant and delve into inquisitiveness asking salient and probing questions about every issue.

A Chief Superintendent and top investigator in EFCC Alex Ogbole Ocheme who spoke on,”New Trends in Cybercrime:How not to fall victim”urged Nigerians to strive not to fall victim saying that it takes a long time before the perpetrators are brought to book because of the procedures and processes.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to install preventive codes on their devices such that hacking their accounts and social media platforms would be almost impossible by the fraudsters.

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