Participants |
Lamorde
who spoke at the opening of a one day workshop on Effective Reporting of
Financial Crimes for journalists drawn from the five south eastern states at
Golden Villa Hotels and suites, Enugu on Monday, November 10, 2014, described
as erroneous, the perception by a section of the media that the Commission was
maintaining a low profile.
Nwajah |
“As I speak, the
Commission is investigating a case of fraud in an old generation bank in Port Harcourt, where a
customer, working with his wife who is a banker with a new generation bank,
defrauded the bank of N855million. The suspect,
one Uchenna Ogbonnaya Dike cashed in on system glitches to perpetrate the
scam over a period of five months, by transferring funds from the bank into
accounts in the new generation bank. Other accomplices in the scam are
currently on the run. But the Commission will get them as we are determined to
check all incidences of fraud in the banking sector”, he said.
The EFCC boss, who was
represented by Mr. Osita Nwajah, Deputy Director, Public Affairs further
disclosed that the Commission had recovered over N5billion in the oil subsidy
fraud case and property worth a billion naira in the pension fraud matter.
Adekanmbi |
He
commended the media for their support over the past 11 years and urged them not
to relent but to be aggressive whistle blowers in the delicate assignment
of ridding our nation of the corruption malaise.
Dotun Adekanmbi, former
deputy director, Communication, Industrial and General Insurance Company
Limited and lead strategist, Media Logistix, who presented a paper on the place
of social media in financial crimes reporting, charged journalists to explore
the new opportunities for information gathering and confirmation provided by
the new media. According to him, the improvement in
telecommunications makes the social media the new frontier for
communication, stressing that only those who want to be left behind would
afford to ignore the sector.
He
however sensitized participants to the perils of the social media, harping on
the dangers of over exposure and the need for constant checking of information
received through the available platforms.
Egbuchulam Nwaja, former news editor,
Ebonyi state Newspaper Corporation, in his paper entitled, Investigative
Journalism and Financial Crimes Reporting, examined the reformative
potentials of investigative reporting. “Investigative reporting reveals
scandals and shames corrupt individuals. It uncovers secrets somebody wants to
keep hidden. It is simply good reporting that comes out of the traditional view
of journalists as “watch dogs” whose mission is to sniff out wrongs, point
fingers at those to blame, and report in a way that brings about positive
change”.
While
noting that economic constraints and interest of owners were a major
encumbrance to investigative reporting in Nigeria, Nwaja nevertheless advised
practicing journalists to embrace the craft. “The media should turn their
investigative search lights on corruption in the private sector, just as they
are doing to the public sector”, he said.
He
also advocated protection for investigative
journalists.
Blessing Olaifa, assistant editor, The
Nation Newspapers, in his presentation stressed the need for media
practitioners to be mindful of the ethics of the profession in the discharge of
their responsibilities. According to him, the media is not just
the fourth estate of the realm, “It is the realm upon which all estates are
held accountable. Therefore, it must be above board”.
Olaifa reminded participants of the need
to take “advantage of some of the institutional mechanisms and legal
instruments available for use to fight economic crimes.”
Most of the workshop participants
commended the quality of the presentations, while calling on the Commission to
make the programme a regular feature in its media calendar.
Over 50 journalists from the five states
of the South East zone attended the workshop.
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