Why we sacked 2 officers – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said yesterday,
that it sacked two of its officers, Juliet Ibekaku and Michael Nzekwe, for
absconding from duty and nothing more.
A human rights group had raised an alarm that the two officers were sacked
because of their tribe and their refusal to compromise internal corruption in the
commission.



The commission in a statement signed by his spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren,
yesterday, said both officers deserted their duty posts without justification,
thereby violating laid down employment rules.
In the case of Nzekwe, the commission said he deliberately absconded from duty
and went with two of his children on pleasure trip for three weeks only to return
and claim that he went to India to seek medical attention for his sick wife.
It said: “When the officer was queried for absenting himself from work without
authorization, he claimed he travelled to the United States to shop for medical
options for his wife, Agatha who had an alleged renal challenge and was
hospitalized in India.
“This information was found to be false, as evidence emerged that the officer
went on a pleasure trip to the United States with his two daughters.”
In the case of Ibekaku, the commission claimed that she was also fired for not
reporting at her duty post for 81 days and refusing to respond to series of
queries addressed to her.
The commission expressed disappointment that a clear disciplinary action by
the commission had been turned into an ethnic agenda by the so-called human
right groups and its apologists.
It wondered where the human right activist was when the commission also
dismissed seven other staff who are not from the South-East earlier this year for
indiscipline.
The commission warned individuals and organisations to desist from reading
ulterior motives into its activities as it would not fold its hands and allow ethnic
jingoists to dictate to it under the guise of human right activism.