Mr. Effa Okim, Acting Director, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Benin Zonal Office says Edo ranked second after Lagos in the crime index in the country, urging journalists to join the commission in the fight against crime in the state.
Okim who gave this revelation when he paid a courtesy visit to the leadership and members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State council, said he knows the value of journalists and the role they play in the society hence the need for the partnership.
The EFCC boss, while stating that his team is working to curb the menace of cybercrime perpetrated by children, mostly underaged, said the EFCC in the zone is determined to partnering with Edo journalists in the fight against criminality.
He stressed the commission’s commitment to flushing out criminal elements in its covering states of Edo, Delta and Ondo states.
Mr. Okim, while expressing worry at the rate of crimes in the state, said that quick rich syndrome in the society pushed some young persons using their parents for money rituals.
The EFCC boss lamented that has undermined the culture, tradition and sanctity of the Nigerian state.
He also blamed parents for not checkmating their children and guiding them against cybercrime and rituals.
Speaking on the recent conviction of Bobrisky on the basis of Naira abuse and the critism the commission has received from some quarters, Okim warned that the act of spraying Naira in the public will not be accepted.
The EFCC boss who described the act as worse than cybercrime, said the act of displaying and spraying money in the public has inculcated in many young ones the get rich quickly mentality.
In his response, the Chairman, Edo NUJ, Comrade Festus Alenkhe, expressed members of the Edo NUJ readiness in partnering with the EFCC in the fight against crimes in the state.
He also urged the commission to make available information needed by journalists particularly cases such as the ones the commission has concluded investigation on and probably make conviction of some suspects.