The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over its handling of a petition he filed against former palace officials. According to a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Osaigbovo Ighobaro, the monarch accused the EFCC of treating his complaint with kid gloves and aiding and abetting crimes.<\/p>\n
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Oba Ewuare II raised these concerns during a visit by Mr. Effa Okim, the new Benin Zonal Director of the EFCC, to his palace. He recounted how a previous investigation involving unnamed former palace officials, who were arrested for fraud and handed over to the EFCC for further action, was not adequately pursued. The monarch alleged that the suspects were released with minimal repercussions despite clear evidence of their crimes.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe want to draw your attention to one or two grey areas in your operations, no matter how much you try to support them from the Palace. It was a young lady who headed that team from the Palace. It was very difficult. They (EFCC) always come and speak gloriously. Actually, when the time comes to assist them, they seem to listen to other parties. What has been told is that they take instructions from the highest bidder,\u201d Oba Ewuare II said.<\/p>\n
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The Oba expressed his frustration with the previous EFCC team and criticized their lack of impartiality and diligence. He highlighted the need for the agency to conduct its investigations without bias or influence from external parties.<\/p>\n
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The monarch, however, showed optimism towards the new leadership of the EFCC under Chairman Mr. Olanipekun Olukayode, encouraging him to maintain integrity in his duties. Oba Ewuare II also pledged the palace’s support to the state government in efforts to address social inequality and reduce social vices.<\/p>\n
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In response, Mr. Effa Okim, the new Benin Zonal Director of the EFCC, appealed for the Oba\u2019s support in the fight against financial crimes. He pointed out that Edo State ranks second in Nigeria\u2019s financial crime index, behind Lagos State. Okim, who noted the historical ties between his state of origin, Cross River, and Edo State, sought the monarch\u2019s prayers and blessings to help him execute his responsibilities effectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over its handling of a petition he filed against former palace officials. According to a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Osaigbovo Ighobaro, the monarch accused the EFCC of treating his complaint with kid gloves and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":32038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32039,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32037\/revisions\/32039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}