The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has disclosed that 27 of its operatives were relieved of their duties in 2024.

Head of media and publicity at the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, in a statement on Monday, said the anti-graft agency, “dismissed twenty-seven (27) officers from its workforce in 2024.”

Mr Oyewale stated that,”The officers were dismissed for various offences bordering on fraudulent activities and misconduct,” as the agency is resolved “to enforce integrity and rid its fold of fraudulent elements.”

According to the statement, their dismissal, which followed the recommendation of the staff disciplinary committee of the EFCC, was ratified by the executive chairman, Ola Olukoyede.

The commission also vowed to investigate allegations against any of its staff, “including a trending $400,000 claim of a yet-to-be-identified supposed staff of the EFCC against a Sectional Head.”

Meanwhile, the EFCC has alerted the public to the sinister activities of impersonators and blackmailers using Mr Olukoyede’s name to extort money from high-profile suspects who are under investigation.

“Two members of an alleged syndicate, Ojobo Joshua and Aliyu Hashim, were recently arraigned before Justice Jude Onwuebuzie of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, for allegedly contacting a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, and demanding $1 million from him for ‘Olukoyede to give him soft landing’ on a non-existing investigation. Such characters are still on the loose seeking victims.”

Condemning the act, the commission, which described its chairman as a man of integrity who cannot be swayed by monetary influences, enjoined the public to always report such disreputable elements to the Commission.

The agency also warned against moves to blackmail officers of the Commission through unwholesome means, stating that, “Suspects being investigated for some economic and financial crimes who have failed to compromise their investigators would always clutch at any straw. Such blackmailers should not be accorded any form of attention.”

Reiterating the commitment of the Commission to zero tolerance for corruption, MrOlukoyede warned that no officer is immune to disciplinary measures, insisting that the commission’s core values are sacrosanct and would always be held in optimal regard at all times.