Abuja based Civil Society Organisation; the Society for Rule of Law in Nigeria (SRLN) has cautioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, over recent crude operational procedure of the agency, saying; the way the EFCC under Magu was going, churches, mosques or even social gatherings will soon be invaded to arrest people for spending money perceived as being too much by operatives of the agency.
According to a statement on Thursday, by its Co-coordinator, Dr. Chima Ubeku, the SRLN, which said there was no justification for the last week invasion of a club in Ibadan, Oyo State by operatives of the EFCC, noted that in civilized societies, financial crimes are not investigated through crude invasion of public places to carry out wanton arrest of both the guilty and the innocent.
The SRLN said it was inexcusable that Magu could defend the barbaric act carried out in Ibadan last week by the EFCC operatives by saying that internet fraudsters gather in the nightclubs to spend the money gotten from their victims.
The group asked; does it then suggest that anyone that goes to nightclub is a yahoo boy or girl? What will now happen to those with legitimate source of income and are club goers? Were those workers at Club 360 in Ibadan that were brutalized, humiliated, injured, arrested and detained by the EFCC last week also internet fraudsters?
While chiding Magu for running the EFCC like a brutish organization, the SRLN said apart from cases already investigated and charged to court before he assumed office, the EFCC boss should be asked how many convictions he has achieved since he stated his jankara operations.
It noted that anti-corruption fight can never be successful with Magu’s style, pointing out that in saner climes, anti-corruption agencies do not go about raiding public places to arrest people and go about fishing for evident after. Rather, what is done is for proper investigation to have been conducted and prima facie case established against suspects before carrying out arrest.
The SRLN said with the crude style of EFCC, Nigerians will soon begin to avoid nightclubs, thereby leading to business collapse and loss of jobs.
The group counseled Magu to return the EFCC to the glorious days of Nuhu Ribadu and Ibrahim Lamorde when the operatives of the agency were not jumping from one street to the other, looking for people to arrest so as to extort money from them.