EFCC Has No Issues With Musicians - Magu
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said wednesday that the agency has no
issues with musicians.
EFCC Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu |
Magu spoke against the backdrop of the arraignment of Afeez Fashola known as Naira Marley by the commission in Lagos.
He charged Nigerian artistes and
comedians to join the anti-graft agency in the fight against corruption,
particularly internet fraud, and to lend their voices to the
commission’s anti-corruption fight.
“You have a very wide reach; so, lend us
your voices; please, let your works propagate and promote integrity and
the right values,” he said passionately, as he stressed that they
remained key to winning the war against internet fraud, and corruption
in general.
Magu gave the charge wednesday during an
interactive session with artistes, comedians and On-Air-Personalities
(OAP), which held at the EFCC Headquarters, Jabi, Abuja.
“I urge you to raise a collective slogan
against all forms of criminality among our youths, condemn in strong
terms, ostentatious living without credible sources of income,
particularly the get-rich-at-all-cost syndrome among the youths,” he
said.
Stressing the important status, which
the commission attaches to members of Nigeria’s entertainment industry,
Magu called on them to “join hands with the EFCC in this fight against
corruption, because we need you more than ever before to change the
negative narratives about our country being havens of internet
fraudsters”.
According to him, the EFCC was ready to
collaborate with the creative industry in every way possible, with the
sole aim of combating the menace of internet fraud and all other forms
of economic and financial crimes.
He said: “I have always stressed that we cannot claim to have the monopoly of knowledge of how to fight corruption at the EFCC.
“We are however, driven by the passion
to explore all frontiers that will enable us achieve a better society
for our children yet unborn – an egalitarian society and one which we
all can be proud of.”
He noted that the engagement with the
members of the creative and entertainment industry, was out of great
concern about the increasing cases of “yahoo-yahoo” among Nigerian
youths, and in the belief that Nigeria’s creative minds was critical to
curbing the ugly trend, which has given Nigeria a bad image. “Let’s find
a way to reduce or stop our teeming youths from engaging in internet
fraud,” he said.
Making reference to the recent
prosecution of popular musician, Afeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley, for
charges bordering on internet fraud, Magu stressed with great concern
that the EFCC was not “chasing” musicians.
He said: “Let me use this opportunity to
emphasise that we have no issues with any member of this very important
sector of the country.
“I have said it in the past and I will
also like to restate, that the EFCC does not go after any innocent
person. Our mandate is to rid Nigeria of any form of economic and
financial crimes, and internet fraud is not excluded.”
He further stressed that “there is
always intelligence report that our officers get and investigate before
effecting a warrant of arrest, and we don’t arrest innocent people”.
He noted that the concern for the
increasing cases of internet fraud, prompted him early in the year, to
constitute a Task Team given the task to stem the tide of internet fraud
in the country.
“This Task Team has since swung into
action, and the outcome of what you have is the increasing cases and
report of EFCC operatives rounding up internet fraudsters across the
country,” he added.
He however, noted with concern that “I don’t like arresting them, but what can we do, we have to do our job”.
“While I restate our commitment to
continue the intensity of rounding up internet fraudsters, I strongly
urge you all to join hands with the EFCC to promote the culture and
gospel of hard work with dignity”.
Speaking on the efforts of the EFCC in
its enlightenment efforts aimed at nurturing young minds against
corruption, Hajiya Aisha Musa-Larai, Head of Creative and
Communications, Public Affairs Department, used the platform to intimate
the stakeholders of various programmes of the commission targeted at
children and young people.
“The commission has put in place
Zero-Tolerance Clubs at various universities and Integrity Clubs in both
primary and secondary schools in conjunction with the National Youth
Service Corps,” she said, noting that the programmes have gone a long
way in sensitising the young ones.
She, however, noted that the call on the
artistes and members of the creative industry was a clarion call aimed
at further cementing the efforts of the EFCC in its anti-graft crusade.
Expressing their desire to heed the
EFCC’s clarion call, the artistes and entertainers, also urged the
Commission to help track the activities of Ministries Departments and
Agencies, MDAs entrusted with funds meant to assist entertainers in
their job, should be made to account for it and ensure that they get to
the recipients of such funds, as this is necessary for them not to look
in the direction of internet fraudsters, who are more than willing to
provide funding for entertainers.
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