The past few weeks on social media has been riddled with stories of Nigerian artistes Naira Marley and Zlatan Ibile, who were arrested by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for issues bothering on cyber-crime.
In light of the recent happenings, the acting chairman of the commission Ibrahim Magu, on Tuesday, May 22, invited stakeholders in the entertainment industry to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, in a bid to allay their worries and reassure them that the commission does not have any personal vendetta against them.
Magu charged artistes, comedians and others alike to join the anti-graft agency in the fight against corruption, especially internet crime, stressing the importance for them to lend their voices to the commission’s crusade against fraudulent activities.
According to a report by the EFCC, Magu was quoted to have said: “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.
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“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."
The acting chairman further relayed the readiness of the crimes commission to collaborate with the creative industry in a bid to jointly wage war upon fraudulent online activities as well as other 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.”
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On the most recent issue of Naira Marley who is currently still being held in detention, the EFCC boss categorically stated that the agency is not bent on going after musicians or innocent members of the public.
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He said: “Let me use this opportunity to emphasize 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.
“There is always intelligence report that our officers get and investigate before effecting a warrant of arrest, and we don’t arrest innocent people.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng gathered that veteran rapper Ruggedman, issued a statement in which he cleared the air on his involvement in the arrest of Naira Marley by the EFCC. According to the rapper, even though he initially expressed satisfaction at the development, he completely has nothing to do with it.
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The EFCC stage a walk against corruption | Legit TV
Source: Legit