| I’M IN DANGER
- Ribadu, EFCC boss cries out
‘I receive threat calls everyday. If I open my mail
box, you’ll be shocked’
By OLA AGBAJE
Monday July 19, 2004
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•Nuhu
Ribadu
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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Anti-fraud czar, Nuhu Ribadu is the nemesis of people
who would rather live by a sleight of the hand, depriving
other people of their hard-earned resources by spinning them
different types of yarns. In popular parlance, this is called
419.
Ribadu heads the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and he currently has big fishes in his net, facing
prosecution for advance fee fraud and other types of financial
crimes.
Frail looking Ribadu is by no means on a picnic. In fact,
he tells Daily Sun that his life is under constant threat.
His words: "Yes, I receive threat calls everyday. Some
would even send text message. If I open my mail box to show
you, you’ll be shocked at the level of desperation of
these fraudsters. Imagine somebody calling and telling you
that he knows where you are and they are coming after you.
The same goes for some of our top officials. But they are
just wasting their time."
According to the EFCC boss, the future of the country depends
largely on the success of the on-going battle against fraud.
"It is a battle we must collectively wage and win for
the future of our nation. There is no alternative. And we
are satisfied with our humble achievement so far. It is borne
out of selfless sacrifice which I believe is the greatest
service anybody can render to his fatherland." Ribadu
spoke further:
Benefits from the job
We are not benefiting anything either personally or individually
in our war against fraudsters. I swear by the name of almighty
God. But it is a war we must collectively fight if this country
must raise her head among the civilized nations. It is a war
this country cannot afford to lose if we are going to have
a credible future. Therefore, we must join hands in fighting
this monster called 419 in our midst.
The press have been of tremendous support to our commission
and that has been quite helpful. Because, it is through the
positive attitude of the press that people have come to realize
the serious nature of EFCC assignments. And I must commend
them for that because I know as a matter of fact, they must
have shunned a lot of temptation from those who could pay
anything to get their support. The free goodwill the commission
is getting from the press has helped a lot in ensuring our
survival otherwise we could have been easily defeated by the
powerful people who are not comfortable with EFCC. Don’t
forget these powerful people are working hard to make sure
that we don’t succeed.
The sacrifice the press have rendered in this regard would
go a long way in ensuring the revival of decency, honesty
and moral ethics in our country. It is not easy considering
the temptation, but the press in this crusade against fraudsters
have chosen to be counted on the part of history by supporting
the commission to bring a better Nigeria.
Temptation
We go through a lot of temptation too. Thank God we’ve
been able to overcome a lot of it. It is a job one must do
with prayer and total dedication. No sacrifice is too great
for this country. The fact that you’ve been seeing cases
of 419 in court is enough testimony that one is shunning a
lot of temptation, otherwise, one would just sit down here,
pretending to be working and make fortunes, then get out of
the place. As a police officer who has been part of a lot
of financial crime and allied offences investigation in the
past, I know what the situation was before and now. Before,
it was most difficult if not outright impossible to get a
good case in court. In fact at stage, the whole job of police
is to arrest offenders; give them bail and then frustrate
the matter and it would never see the light of the day.
We must do things correctly
What EFCC has been doing is to lay the foundation for doing
things correctly according to the rules laid down. Nigeria
is not a hopeless country. No, we must let the world know
that things could be done here correctly. It must also be
manifestly seen that we have a just system that can work effectively.
I can tell you frankly that we are honest in what we are doing.
We are very transparent, there is nothing hidden; there is
nothing personal. We are doing it as the work of God which
is the ultimate. That is why I’m appealing to all Nigerian
that want the best for this country in the nearest future
to join us in the fight. We are confident that we will win
the battle because God is our strength. You know good work
never goes in vain.
God always rewards good deeds. Though some may feel that there
is no immediate material benefit; I can tell you good things
will never go in vain.
Anthony Ani
It is true we declared him wanted. At the time we declared
him wanted, we had searched for him to the best of our ability.
We didn’t know where he was. We sent people to where
we thought, we should get him to no avail. And we had got
to the stage where we believed it was imperative for him to
clarify certain things because of the references being made
to him as the then Minister of Finance.
It was in respect of the payment of about $7.1 million to
a company between 1995 to 1998 during his tenure as Finance
Minister. Federal Government gave contract for pre-shipment
inspection of goods going out of the country. They had the
inspection of the goods coming in, it was their idea apparently.
Three companies were appointed. One company was paid $24 million,
another one was paid $28million.
One of the companies was paid $7 million dollar extra outside
the contract sum. The money was just paid without any purpose
or reason.
So we tried to get him and when we could not get him, we had
to make use of the press. And good enough, the following day,
the man appeared in our office. He said he was around and
that he was in Lagos. We said we are sorry if there is any
embarrassment caused by the public announcement.
Then he explained his position very well to our satisfaction,
we allowed him to go; we did not detain him. Then we took
his address so that we won’t have problem in reaching
him again anytime we require his attention because, we have
not reached conclusion on the matter. But the good thing is
that he appeared and answered all questions put to him.
EFCC is not after anybody
By our conduct so far, I believe people should be able to
know that we are not after anybody. We are open and transparent.
If in the course of doing our job anybody feels genuinely
hurt, we would apologize. We are very open and transparent.
Dariye For now no comment.
Nobody is safe
Let me tell you, these conmen live by deceit. They would do
anything no matter how dishonourable to get what they want.
Even you press people they would not leave you alone. They
will deceive you, intimidate you and blackmail you. They are
like the devils, so if you are going to dine with them, you
must have a very long spoon.
Tough job
Fighting against 419 people has been a very tough assignment.
The job is tough because you’re fighting in all fronts.
If it were those visible guys alone, I would say it is not
a big deal. But there are powerful forces behind them who
make things difficult. They are the people you don’t
see but who are very powerful and who are working hard to
make sure we don’t succeed.
Threat and sacrifice
We are under constant and sustained threat. If I tell you
how many strange calls, I mean serious threat calls I receive
daily, you won’t believe it. They are fighting the commission
left and right to make the place fail. Imagine a strange voice
calling you to inform you that ‘this is where you are
and we are coming after you’ or ‘we know where
you are going, we ‘ll be waiting for you. It is such
a serious problem, but it is a problem one must learn to live
with if we’re going to succeed on the job and we cannot
afford to fail. The future of this nation depends a lot on
the success of the commission. It is a sacrifice all of us
must make.
Financing the job
The cost has been quite enormous as you can see from the calibre
of lawyers we engage. We cannot go for mediocres because it
is a serious matter. And we don’t have much resources.
The international support has not come because it takes time
to build the confidence to get the support. It would eventually
come. But it is just a matter of time and one hopes it would
go a long way in assisting the commission.
Getting conviction
Justice is a process that must be allowed to run its full
course. It must be open and transparent. The suspects have
the right to defend themselves to the best of their ability.
As you can see, EFCC has no control over the criminal justice
system, but I believe we are making progress.
Secondly, some of the accused instead of facing their defence,
they have been doing all sort of things to frustrate the trial.
It is rather unfortunate because it is better to organise
your defence in such a way that may lead to success or get
you reprieve. It is unfortunate that through their lawyers,
they have been trying to stall trials. But with the development
in Court of Appeal where their appeals have failed, with the
court telling them to face their trial, I believe things would
change.
Impression of foreign witnesses
They are quite frustrated with our criminal justice system.
There is no point in deceiving ourselves. Imagine somebody
coming to testify four times and yet could not enter the witness
box. But the good thing is the resolve on the part of everybody
that even if it means coming 20 times, the matter must be
concluded. Nobody can weigh us down.
The late Ibekwe
When we arrested the late Morris Ibekwe, within two days,
we took him to court. We gave him the proof of evidence to
study and prepare his defence. But instead of facing trial,
he and his lawyer chose to employ delay tactics. Otherwise,
within one month, we would have finished the trial. It is
rather unfortunate because it shows we have a serious problem
in this country. If you look at his case, the court at different
points ordered that he be taken to one of the best hospitals
around where he eventually died. He got the best treatment
in the circumstances. It is unfortunate that he died in hospital.
But this problem of 419 must be confronted squarely for the
future of this country.
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