Corruption more deadly than cancer, Ebola – Magu

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, said on Tuesday corruption is more deadly than cancer, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), coronavirus and other major diseases ravaging the world.

He also said the Commission arrested about 500 suspected internet fraudsters within six months.

Magu, who disclosed this during the Passing Out Parade for the EFCC Detective Inspectors Course 5 at the Nigerian Defence Academy Parade Ground, Afaka, Kaduna, said the Commission secured 1,281 convictions EFCC between January 1 and December 31, 2019.

According to the EFCC chief, the Commission’s mandate was to kill corruption in Nigeria.

He said: “As it is often said, in our country, tackling corruption is a clarion call, given that corruption is a huge burden to the nation.

“It has spread its cancerous effects to all facets of our lives. Insecurity, poverty, unemployment, falling standards of education, weak access to affordable health care, failing infrastructure, the question on the integrity of the electoral process, poor business environment, and lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to mention a few, are all linked to corruption.

“Corruption is worse than cancer, Ebola virus, coronavirus, and all other deadly diseases put together. Fighting corruption is thus a crusade against the evils of our society that are deeply-rooted and threatening to consume us.

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”We are aware that the task is not easy and the path can be very thorny and lonely, but with determination and a high sense of mission, we are making progress towards rooting out this evil from our society.”

Magu told the gathering that the fight against corruption must be won to secure a better future for the present generation and the generations yet unborn.

The EFCC chairman added: “The mission to eliminate corruption in Nigeria assumed a more systematic posture from 2016 with the development of a National Anti-Corruption Strategy and National Anti-Corruption Action Plan which were launched in 2017.”

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