The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have begun a man-hunt for one of its officers said to have disappeared owing largely to his inability to explain the whereabouts of “over 30,000 dollars” from an exhibit room in Kaduna.
Although the leadership of the commission, including Mr Ola Olukoyede and the Head of the Media and Publicity, Mr Dele Oyewale, were yet to comment on the development as at press time this evening-Wednesday, January 22 – there were clear indications that the commission has spread a dragnet for the fleeing officer and would sooner or later apprehend him.
An online news platform raised the red flag on Tuesday night that EFCC was enmeshed in another internal scandal as an officer in charge of Kaduna Zonal Office’s exhibit room, identified as Polycarp, allegedly absconded with over $30,000 and other valuable exhibits in his custody.
This development is seen as counterproductive for an anti-corruption agency like EFCC, especially with its recent demonstration of zero tolerance for indiscipline within the commission.
In recent times, the commission had dismissed 27 staff members who were investigated and confirmed to have been involved in similar scandalous acts as the commission’s officials.
The commission had also detained 10 staff members for similar offences even as other similar investigations are ongoing in its zonal offices across the country.
The online news platform revealed that the Zonal Director of EFCC, Benedict Ubi, had a couple of weeks ago ordered an audit of the directorate’s exhibit room following the internal heist that occurred in Lagos, which led to the disappearance of the said staff.
“Immediately after the order for the audit was given, he took an excuse to ease himself. Efforts were made to contact him but all his telephone lines were switched off.
“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”, the platform quoted its source.
