Nothing Must Happen To EFCC Boss, Bawa – HURIWA Warns Buhari

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has warned that nothing untoward or sinister must happen to the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

You would recall that Bawa had during the week claimed that he has been receiving death threats since resuming office as the Commission’s boss.

Giving the warning in a statement to DAILY POST on Wednesday, HURIWA noted that the appointment of the 40-year-old Bawa as EFCC boss could be a fresh breath into the increasingly waning and ethically diminished anti-graft crusade of the Buhari administration.

Bawa said he got to know last week that someone was threatening to kill him and HURIWA called on President Muhammadu Buhari to extend the best protection available humanly speaking to the EFCC chairman.

“Seeing his refreshing youthfulness and his expressed or vocalised zeal to battle relentlessly the hydra-headed monster of economic crimes especially amongst top-flight government officials, we are hereby expressing our solidarity with Bawa and urging the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces to extend the best protection available humanly speaking to his trusted appointee who seems to have started well, so his adversaries will not put him in the way of harm or danger,” HURIWA said.

“If anything happens to him, then it will be well known that forced embedded within the administration are the key suspects given the unprecedented quantum of sophisticated and crude economic crimes and corruption that have eroded the few gains made by the 6-year-old administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“So it is in the self enlightened interest of President Muhammadu Buhari that Abdulrasheed Bawa and other officers of the EFCC are protected from any sort of sinister violent plot”.

The rights group urged Buhari to ensure the protection of Bawa and members of the EFCC because if their duty is properly implemented, it could ensure that Nigeria’s economy does not collapse under the heavyweight of systemic and systematic, Institutional and bureaucratic corruption in Nigerian.

The statement, jointly signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and Zainab Yusuf the Director of media nationwide, added, “HURIWA is calling on patriots to speak out. We are credible civil rights leaders to speak out to put pressure on both the EFCC Chairman and President Buhari to name, shame, prosecute and punish the particular identifiable man that the EFCC chairman said made a call and threatened to kill him.

“In the last five years, life has become very cheap in Nigeria and mass killers are roaming freely even within the corridors of power in Abuja and nothing is happening.

“The early warning by Abdulrasheed Bawa should not be treated with the usual fire Brigade approach whereby the government would wait until the threat is executed before running around trying to spread propaganda”.

Bawa had earlier threatened to resign from the position, if he is asked to compromise, adding that Nigerians need to change their attitudes.

Abdulrasheed Bawa officially resumed duty as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC on Friday, March 5, 2021, replacing Ibrahim Magu.

On resumption of duties, Bawa pledged to fight corruption ravaging the country and also promised to steer the organization towards a proactive and intelligence-led investigation.

Ibrahim Magu, who acted as the Commission’s Chairman for more than four years following the Senate’s refusal to confirm him, was sacked over multiple corruption allegations.

Magu had, however, denied collecting bribe from anybody during his time at the helm of affairs at the anti-corruption agency.

The former EFCC acting Chairman dared anyone with proof of him going contrary to his office to publicly confront him.

The ex-EFCC was then reacting to allegations that he allowed a suspect Hima Aboubakar, a Nigerien National to escape from justice.

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