Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Ibrahim Magu has warned looters to surrender in their own interest, saying the game is up for them.

Magu gave the warning yesterday to officers on a working tour to the Lagos office of the commission saying the EFCC had secured three convictions this year.

“Those who stole our commonwealth should know that there is no hiding place for them. A high tension searchlight is being beamed on them, it is in their interest to surrender because the game is up”, he said.

He said the commission was committed to securing more convictions in 2019.

“With 312 convictions in 2018, we are strategizing to redouble our effort in 2019, as part of our concerted efforts aimed at ensuring that the negative narrative of pervasive corruption in the system is changed for the better, and the perception that some persons are above the law, remains altered.

“The commission shall continue to rid the country of economic and financial crimes and effectively coordinate the domestic efforts of the global fight against money laundering and terrorism financing,” he added.

While commending the exemplary leadership of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, for the success recorded in the past year, Magu stressed that the judiciary remains key to winning the corruption fight.

He said: “Let us have it at the back of our minds that we are only prosecutors; without the support of the judiciary, led by the CJN and other heads of court across jurisdictions, we could not have been able to achieve the much we did in 2018. Therefore, to be able to double that feat in 2019, let us know that we cannot do without the judiciary.”

He further called for the unalloyed collaboration of other stakeholders and urged Nigerians to be “more dedicated and determined in reducing corruption to the barest minimum”.

•Sourced from a Daily Trust report

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