SAN FRANCISCO, November 24, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has insisted that the Department of State Services (DSS) had no business raiding and arresting judges, as corruption does not constitute a threat to national security.
This was the position of the commission before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the invasion of property and arrest of persons for reasons outside the general duties of the DSS.
Represented by an Assistant Director (Prosecution), Ojogbane Johnson, the EFCC disclosed that the agency was not particularly involved in the operation against the judges but noted that the allegations against the judges amounted to financial crimes, which are under the purview of anti-graft agency as stipulated in the EFCC Act.
“It is a crime motivated by greed, but it’s within the purview of the EFCC,” Johnson said at the hearing.
“Bribery and corruption are for personal gain, and what it has affected in my view was not security, but development. It is not about the internal security which the DSS deals with, what it does is to rob us of our commonwealth.
“I am not aware of any issue they (DSS) have been involved in that has elicited as much criticism as this one. It is not so much because people are against them fighting corruption but the methodology.
“They (DSS) could have executed the same operation by inviting or arresting the judges during the day or arraigning them in court.
“Most of these people are not violent on their own and when we put them before a compromised judge, and are set free, they go back to do the same things, like duping people. That has nothing to do with internal security.”
Johnson however admitted that the agency had been investigating several judges, and was still investigating some, including a few that were arrested by the DSS.
In contrast, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Ekpo Nta, said the DSS raid was in order as the agency can perform the duties of the police.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, was absent at the hearing, and did not send a representative which irked the chairman of the committee, Hon. Mohammed Garba Datti (Kaduna APC).
“We summoned him to appear today because we are aware that the Federal Executive Council meeting holds on Wednesdays. We are giving him up to Tuesday to appear, failing which we will make the committee to invoke its power of arrest,” he said.
The hearing was adjourned till next Tuesday.
Story by Oputah David
