The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has recognized illegal mining and crime actions as a significant threat to the native and nationwide economy by way of non- fee of royalties, taxes and different dues.
The Acting Executive Chairman of EFCC, Abdulkarim Chukkol, represented by the Zonal Head, Micheal Nzekwe, made the assertion at a Day Workshop, organised by the fee for journalists in Kwara.
The theme of the workshop, tagged: “Effective Reporting of Economic and Financial Crimes”, was held on the Ilorin Zonal Command on Thursday.
The chairman famous that cybercrime was a significant crime, notably amongst undergraduates and recent graduates of tertiary establishments.
“The commission has been active in tackling their criminalities and will continue to ensure that extant laws against illegal miners are enforced.
“Our work is engaging because the commission has been combating the menace of corrupt practices, going by its impressive records of convictions, asset forfeitures and other tangible proofs of accomplishments over the years.
“The reporting has also been arduous because our work is not static and media have always been keeping pace with our speed and energy.
“It is in recognition of these tasks that the commission initiated a workshop on economic and financial crime reporting for journalists.
“The workshop is one of the modest efforts of the commission to build synergy and foster a more engaging relationship with the media,” he mentioned.
The EFCC boss urged Nigerians not to wait till they undergo any loss on financial and monetary crimes earlier than they transfer towards corrupt practices, as it stays a threat to particular person and company progress.
“It is not only by being a victim of these crimes that we suffer losses, we also suffer limitations when our neighbours, colleagues, institutions and nation fall prey to them.
“I charge the nation journalists on patriotism, as you owe our nation and the entire world an obligation of exposing every shadiness and criminal acts through reporting.
“Journalism is the best gateway to whistle blowing and I charge the media to deploy more time, energy and commitment in exposing all fraudulent activities in our midst,” he mentioned.
In one of many shows, titled “New trends in cybercrime: How not to become a victim”, by Alex Ocheme of the EFCC, mentioned that cybercrime had eaten over $8 trillion of victims’ hard-earned funds on the planet.
He, nonetheless, mentioned that authorized bottleneck was one of many elements hindering cross border corruption investigation within the anti-corruption battle.
Mr Ocheme mentioned that not all African international locations, for instance, had handed the legislation on cybercrime, including that since one can’t compel these international locations to strive corruption offenders with such legislation, signifies that “the money stolen is gone”.
“Each nation is entitled to its laws. They are not necessarily there to work with you.
“Some countries are fast to assist you in the war against cybercrime while some are not.
“For instance, if the UAE is not ready to collaborate with a country on a cybercrime investigation, it means the money lost is gone,” he mentioned.
Participants on the workshop included journalists from the print media, tv and radio stations as nicely as on-line publishers in Ilorin.
NAN
