May 17, (THEWILL) – The Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity (CCDI) has condemned in strong terms, the unwarranted killing of four locals of the United States Consulate, Lagos Office, on Tuesday, in Anambra State, by unknown killers.
In a release issued and signed by the President of the international organisation, which operates in Nigeria and the United States with United Nations Consultative status, Olufemi Aduwo, expressed shock and outrage at the killing of the United States Consulate workers.
He said the murder of the United States foreign Mission officials is not only worrisome but a thing of shame, which he could not fathom any reason for.
Aduwo said, “Definitely, the vehicles were clearly identified with the United States Consulate Plate numbers, hence it was a deliberate and planned attack and the perpetrators must be brought to book within the shortest possible time.
“The CCDI believe the calculated attack on the US citizens demands a thorough investigation, calling on President Buhari to urgently set up multi security agencies investigation team made up of Directorate of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Police with assistance from the United States security agency to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the attack.
“We believe the attack has a political undertone. We offer our deepest condolences to the United States foreign Mission in Nigeria, families and loved ones of those who were killed and injured in the unwarranted attack. Any attack against diplomats or diplomatic facilities anywhere is unacceptable. We remind the Government of Nigeria of its responsibility under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to protect foreign diplomats in Nigeria. This is unacceptable. Both diplomats and non-diplomats of Foreign Missions in Nigeria should be protected.”
ln another development, Aduwo, who also serves as a Permanent Representative of CCDI to the United Nations, has condemned the re-appointment letter that President Buhari sent to the Senate to confirm the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), AbdulRasheed Bawa, for a second term, saying Buhari should allow the incoming President to reconstitute EFCC board.
He said, currently, the EFCC is more or less a toothless bulldog and pro-graft agency, saying the Chairperson has displayed signs of weaknesses.
“Apart from parading hapless yahoo boys, how many serious corruption cases has the agency successfully concluded? Where is Governor Yahaya Bello’s wife declared wanted long ago? Where was EFCC when political parties nominated people that their cases are pending in courts to contest the election and many of them won?
“Why is President Muhammadu Buhari in a hurry to give Bawa a second term in office with few days to his leaving office? After all, Magu was in an acting capacity for many years and more importantly, who says only people from the northern part of the country have saints, who should manage EFCC? Since its inception till date, all the EFCC Chairpersons are from Northern Nigeria and they all left office with corruption allegations hanging on their necks.
“During the tenure of Larmorde as EFCC Chairperson, l and my organisation collaborated with him and we were able to uncover monumental fraud in government agencies. We did that without collecting any financial benefit. To reduce corruption in the country is a responsibility of every honest Nigerian,” Aduwo said.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
