June 22, 2018

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Benin Zonal office, said it secured nine convictions for various financial crimes within the last 12 months.
Mr Mailafia Yakubu, zonal head of the Benin office comprising Edo, Delta and Ondo, disclosed this on Friday at an event to mark the first anniversary of the zonal office.
Yakubu disclosed that within the period 654 petitions were received, while 557 were found worthy and approved for investigation.
He explained that 64 petitions were rejected due to various reasons, and that from the approved petitions, nine were forwarded to other zones for logistics reasons.
He also said 23 cases were forwarded to the Nigerian Police Force as the matters raised were within the jurisdiction of the Police, while one was forwarded to another sister agency.
He said 28 cases were pending in court.
The zonal head further disclosed that a total of N312.561, 585.31 in cash was recovered: N4, 209,097.96 for the Federal Government, N147, 220,600.00 for corporate bodies and N161, 131,887.35 for individuals.
He also disclosed that the zone secured the forfeiture of a vehicle to the Federal Government, and was in the process of securing the interim forfeiture of two houses and three vessels used for illegal activities.
He noted that as part of strategic plans to ensure a corrupt free nation, the zone embarked on an aggressive sensitisation and enlightenment campaign in schools.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the zone had earlier visited two orphanages within Benin, where food items and cash were donated.
NAN also reports that a sensitization for students to be part of the fight against corruption was carried out on secondary school students across Benin on the need to “see something, say something and do something.”