Planned Protests: EFCC Issues Strong Warning to Organizers

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has issued a strong warning to promoters of a planned protest against the commission.

In a statement issued by Dele Oyewale, Head of Media & Publicity, on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, the EFCC alerted the public about plans by certain individuals to stage a protest against the commission.

“EFCC wishes to alert the general public on the plan by a shadowy group to instigate a ‘protest’ against the Commission,” the statement reads. “In the last couple of days, the group has been actively campaigning on social media, recruiting impressionable young Nigerians, including students, to take up ‘arms’ against the EFCC. This insidious campaign is being promoted as resistance to the operational activities of the Commission, especially in respect of the enforcement of laws dealing with cybercrimes.”

The EFCC identified those behind the planned protest, stating, “The Commission, while not averse to protests by citizens, is alarmed by emerging evidence that suggests a grand design by corrupt elements under investigation or prosecution by the Commission to exploit the so-called protest to orchestrate a national uprising that may threaten the peace and security of our dear nation.”

“As a responsible law enforcement organisation, the Commission will not tolerate any breakdown of law and order anywhere in the country, especially around its office locations across Nigeria,” the statement continued. “EFCC, working in concert with sister security agencies, is therefore taking necessary measures to deal with possible threats to the peace and security of Nigeria.”

The Commission also appealed to parents, guardians, and heads of tertiary institutions to ensure that their wards are not recruited as part of a proxy war against the EFCC by vested corrupt interests. “The war being waged by the Commission against corruption and cybercrime is to protect the future of the youth of this country. That future is imperiled if Nigeria degenerates further in global reckoning as a den of fraudsters,” the statement concluded.