Illegal Mining Activities Threaten Economic Prosperity – EFCC

Due to the non-payment of royalties, taxes, and other obligations, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recognized unlawful mining and criminal activity as a serious danger to regional and national economies.

At a Day Workshop for media that the commission organized in Kwara, Mr. Abdulkarim Chukkol, the acting executive chairman of the EFCC, made the claim in his capacity as the Zonal Head, Mr. Micheal Nzekwe.

The workshop, with the theme “Effective Reporting of Economic and Financial Crimes,” was held on Thursday at the Ilorin Zonal Command, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

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The chairman noted that cybercrime was a major crime, particularly among undergraduates and fresh graduates of tertiary institutions.

“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 said.

The EFCC boss urged Nigerians not to wait until they suffer any loss on economic and financial crimes before they move against corrupt practices, as it remains a threat to individual and corporate 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 act through reporting.

“Journalism is the best gateway to whistleblowing and I charge the media to deploy more time, energy, and commitment in exposing all fraudulent activities in our midst,” he said.

In one of the presentations, titled “New trends in cybercrime: How not to become a victim”, Alex Ocheme of the EFCC, said that cybercrime had eaten over $8 trillion of victims’ hard-earned finances in the world.

He, however, said that the legal bottleneck was one of the factors hindering cross-border corruption investigation in the anti-corruption war.

Ocheme said that not all African countries, for example, had passed the law on cybercrime, adding that since one cannot compel those countries to try corruption offenders with such a law, means 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 said.

Participants at the workshop included journalists from the print media, television, and radio stations as well as online publishers in Ilorin.