*Allegation
spurious, cheap blackmail, says corps
• EFCC seeks
more support for anti-graft fight
The
Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has called on the Federal
Government, Department of State Services (DSS), Inspector General of Police as
well
as the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission
(ICPC) and other anti-crime agencies to beam their searchlight on the alleged
graft in the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Delta State.
Consequently,
the group vowed to stage a protest march on August 16 against the alleged
extortion by men and officers of the corps in a statement yesterday in Warri by
its state chairman, Prince Kehinde Taiga.
But in a
swift reaction, the Commander, Warri Unit Command of the corps, Isah Seidu,
described the allegation as spurious, unacceptable, cheap blackmail and
falsehood, noting that his organisation was not one of the revenue-collecting
agencies involved in the issuance of national driver’s licence.
Taiga had
alleged that the corps was milking residents between N18,000 and 25,000 for the
document. He added that investigation carried out by him in Warri, Effurun, Udu
and Asaba confirmed the alleged extortion. The license officially goes for
N6,350.
He said: “We
are compelled by the collective reality of the Nigerian agenda to act at this
point, seeking a corrupt-free nation worth workable institutions. As a human
right body, we can no longer sit in the comfortable chamber of disequilibrium
while our state continues to burn under the gross and brutal extortion by the
FRSC. Its officers have vowed to frustrate anyone who will not key into the
illegal prices with a tactics to delay and deny data capturing at the state
command.”
Seidu
challenged the rights group to name the culprits instead of casting the entire
corps in bad light.
Meanwhile,
the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
Ibrahim Magu, has called on Nigerians to support the ongoing anti-graft
crusade. He canvassed the mobilisation and sensitisation of the grassroots on
the danger of corrupt practices to their future.
Speaking at
the Project on Support to Anti-Corruption in Nigeria, organised by the National
Orientation Agency (NOA), Magu enjoined stakeholders to remain steadfast even
in the face of noticeable anomalies, especially the celebration of the menace
in high places.
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