Reports reaching Trail Reporters News Room revealed that despite the frantic efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption to a standstill, some high ranking security officers saddled with the responsibility of fighting corruption are bent on sabotaging and frustrating the anti corruption war of the Present administration. Documents and evidence made available to our correspondents shows clearly that despite the huge success achieved and recorded by the current Acting Chairman of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, one of his lieutenants, Mr. Nnaghe Obono Itam, who is the present EFCC Head of Operations, South South Zonal Office, Port Harcourt, is bent on frustrating the fight against corruption by shielding alleged corrupt suspects in Delta State Polytechnic Oghara he is currently investigating.
Trail Reporters gathered that Principal Officers of the Delta State Polytechnic Oghara, including the immediate past rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Clara Sogbaike were arrested and granted administrative bail in March 2018 after the Fundamental Rights Suit the suspects filed against EFCC was struck out on July 3rd 2017 in favour of the EFCC. Discreet investigation by our team of journalists showed that the case of fraud of over N1 billion Naira was covered up by the EFCC office in Port Harcourt until an official complaint was forwarded to the Executive Chairman, EFCC, via the then Director in Charge of Internal Affairs, Mr. Nnaghe Obono Itam in September 2017, and a directive was given to the EFCC Investigator, Mr. Paul Terhemba attached to Economic Governance Unit South South Zone to conclude their investigation.
We gathered that Mr. Nnaghe Itam was later redeployed as EFCC Head of Operations, South South Zone in January 2018 and he immediately arrested and granted all the Suspects in Delta State Polytechnic administrative bail in March 2018.
Trail Reporters were authoritatively informed by the complainant of the case that the EFCC Investigator, Mr. Paul Terhemba confirmed to him through telephone that investigation had been concluded and a Prima facie case had been established against the suspects and that the case file had been forwarded to their legal department in April 2018 for charges to be drafted and that a date of arraignment will be communicated as soon as the charges were filed in Court.
Trail Reporters investigation revealed that this is the 8th Month under the watch of Nnaghe Itam and case file forwarded to Legal Department since April 2018, and up till now suspects have not been charged to court due to high level corruption within the EFCC Port Harcourt Office. Reliable sources within the EFCC Port Harcourt office who have full knowledge of the case confirmed to our correspondents that the hands of their Head of Operations, Mr. Nnaghe Obono Itam are tied due to interference from high ranking politicians within and outside Delta State.
Our Reporters were also reliably informed that calls to EFCC Head of Operations, South South Zone, Mr. Nnaghe Obono Itam from some top EFCC officials in the office of the Executive Chairman, EFCC, who also have full knowledge of the case yielded no positive results as he has deliberately refused to charge the suspects to court despite their indictment for fraud of over one billion naira as confirmed by the Investigator, Paul Terhemba to senior officials from the office of the Executive Chairman EFCC.
Further findings by our reporters revealed, that the case file is currently in the office of the EFCC Head of Operations, Mr. Nnaghe Itam, where reports of the investigation is being doctored in order to cover up the case in exchange for huge financial gains while the life of the complainant is under serious threat for exposing corruption.
As at the time of filing in this report, an official complaint about the unethical conduct of Mr. Nnaghe Itam has been forwarded to the Executive Chairman, EFCC on 15th December 2018 via the official email of the Commission, info@efccnigeria.org which has been officially acknowledged and forwarded to the Chairman.
Also calls placed to Mr. Nnaghe Itam’s telephone line 080331950** for comments were unanswered as at the time of going to the Press.
