(KADUNA)
Following the recent invasion of the private residence of immediate past Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, by operatives of Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a coalition under the auspices of Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has described the process undemocratic, barbaric and the worst form of state prosecution.
NYCN alleged that the anti-graft agency had failed to obtain a search warrant before barging into Dikko’s residence, scattering his family and personal belongings ”as if he is a Boko Haram suspect.”
The group added that it was in support of the war against corruption but that investigations should have started with former EFCC boss, Ibrahim Lamorde, who allegedly failed to account for the N1 trillion recovered loot.
Addressing newsmen on Monday in Kaduna, National President of NYCN, Isah Abubakar, said EFCC should accept blame for their incompetence in not getting a hold of Dikko at home.
Abubakar, who frowned at the EFCC’s approach in pursuing the stolen public funds, regretted the embarrassment the agency had caused the country, suggesting that the agency was cynically trying to impress a select audience.
According to him, Dikko had done the country proud through various innovations and ideas that had increased effective service delivery and improved revenue generation while in service.
He said, “in 2009, Alhaji Dikko set benchmarks in capacity building, especially in terms of service delivery, breaking new grounds in areas of re-orientation, training and retraining of customs officers.
“The NYCN is once more constrained to bring to the notice of Nigerians the opportunistic antics devised by EFCC in their quest to remain relevant by abusing people’s right, while applying tactics that have since become obsolete and uncivilized.
“EFCC’s former chairman himself is under suspicion for failing to account for a whopping N1 trillion of our recovered common wealth, with rumours making the rounds that he had already bolted abroad. Why would EFCC care to conduct searches without warrant. President Mohammadu Buhari’s anti-graft crusade is on course and any move to frustrate it is unacceptable and we will vehemently resist such.
“We, therefore, call Nigerians from all walks of life to rise up and overwhelmingly challenge acts of impunity by the political class and security operatives in the country, including the almighty EFCC.”
The group called on The Presidency to call its anti-graft agencies to order or else its corruption campaign will be viewed by the international community as futile and selective justice.
(Sola Ojo, SUN NEWS ONLINE)