The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) has said that it will<\/p>\n
launch a probe into the activities of the 38 Soldiers, who were
\ncompulsorily retired by the Nigerian Army.<\/p>\n
The soldiers were retired last week by the military authorities following
\nallegation of fraud in the arms deal.<\/p>\n
EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, stated this when a human rights group, Human
\nRights and Anti-Corruption Advocacy Centre protested to the commission in
\nAbuja on Monday 20the June 2016, demanding the probe of the soldiers.<\/p>\n
Magu, told the protesters that his office will look into their demands.<\/p>\n
Represented by Mr. Osita Nwajah, Director in charge of publicity of the
\ncommission, he said the chairman will do justice to all the petition that
\ncomes before him and added that the oone brought by the right group will
\nnot be an exception.<\/p>\n
Magu said, “We commend the Human Rights and Advocacy Centre for leading
\nthe war against corruption. The war is total and it is not limited to
\nindividuals or organisations. It is not limited to any professional group.
\nIt is for every Nigerian.<\/p>\n
“We are very encouraged by this solidarity visit and the request you have
\nmade. The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, a man of courage, who has
\ndemostrated this by the mandate Nigerians gave him, will do justice to
\nevery petition that comes before him. This petition you have brought
\nbefore him will not be an exception”, he said.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the rights group, Adah Douglas and Barrister Oboh John, who
\nspoke on behalf of the group at the anti-graft agency’s office said the
\nNigerian Army have taken a stand and therefore have no reason to doubt
\nthem that the sack of top corrupt army officers is timely and inevitable
\nhaving been carried out in accordance with the Armed Forces Act, Cap A20,
\nLaws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.<\/p>\n
The group told the EFCC chairman that the proper thing the Federal
\nGovernment of Nigeria ought to have done ab initio is to outrightly
\ndismiss the affected officers and hand them over to the Economic and
\nFinancial Crimes Commission for prosecution, particularly due to their
\ninvolvement in the defence procurement fraud. “This would have paved way
\nfor recovery of billions of naira and serve as deterrence to other
\ncriminally minded public officials. We are even more worried by the
\nemerging facts that the sacked officers are hell bent on using their
\nillegally acquired wealth to disrupt the fragile peace we are presently
\nenjoying in Nigeria”.<\/p>\n
The group demanded that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
\nshould as a matter of urgency arrest the sacked army officers and activate
\nSections 28, 29 and 34 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
\n(Establishment) Act, 2004 by tracing and attaching all their assets and
\nproperties as well as freezing their bank accounts in the interim.<\/p>\n
They also demanded, “That the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
\nshould press charges of corruption and economic crimes against the sacked
\narmy officers. When they are eventually convicted, the Commission should
\nensure the confiscation and forfeiture of their illegally acquired assets
\nand properties to the Federal Government of Nigeria pursuant to Section 30
\nof the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004.<\/p>\n
“That Mr. President must be wary of the monstrous plans by the sacked
\nofficers in conjunction with other top officers hiding within the military
\nand paramilitary to throw Nigeria into unimaginable crisis. Every attempt
\nto truncate our democracy and return Nigeria to the dark days of military
\nrule must be resisted.<\/p>\n
“That all local and international sister Civil Society Organizations must
\nbrace up to the challenges of wrestling Nigeria out of the greedy hands of
\nthe sacked \u201cofficers\u201d who in their hay days in service were actually
\n\u201cpoliticians\u201d. The quest for justice for the innocent souls lost to the
\ndreaded Boko Haram sect as a result of corruption and ineptitude of these
\nshenanigans must be sustained”.<\/p>\n
The protesters, numbering about 500 marched to the Unity Fountain where
\nthey held a sit out after which they expressed their desire to occupy the
\nEFCC headquarters after one week, if the commission fails to act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) has said that it will launch a probe into the activities of the 38 Soldiers, who were compulsorily retired by the Nigerian Army.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n