by Alexander O. Onukwue

The prevailing assumption about the shooting which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday at the EFCC office in Wuse Zone 7 is that it was politically motivated.

From its establishment in 2004 by President Obasanjo, the anti-graft agency has been involved in the majority of high profile prosecutions against many politicians in the country, ranging from former Governors and Ministers, to even the immediate past First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. Despite the existence of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) also for anti-corruption, the EFCC has almost become the go-to anti-corruption body in Nigeria, inextricably making them ubiquitous in conversations about politicians and corruption.

Yet, it is not to be lost that the body was not set up only to target politicians. As an anti-financial crimes body, their purview spreads well beyond scrutinizing financial propriety of politicians. The EFCC has arraigned and successfully prosecuted very many private individuals and heads of private organisations, but those do not get the TV following generated by the often less successful move on those of the political class.

Mr Ishaku Sharu, the single officer to whom a death threat was addressed by the attackers, is the helmsman for prosecuting foreign exchange malpractices. That could mean that those who attacked the EFCC may have specific grouses with the Commission as it relates to dealings in Euros, Dollars, Rands and Pounds.

The sponsors of the storm on the Commission could have been anyone from big players in advance fee fraud, a.k.a Yahoo Boys, to manipulative operators in the Bureau de Change line of business. The attackers may have been surrogates of persons in the banking or manufacturing industry who may have faced some resistance with obtaining forex for business. What more? They may not have been Nigerians!

Mr Sharu’s position also covers investigating the military top brass but would they (persons from the Military under investigation) go the route of armed intimidation before the break of dawn? As a tactic, it sounds intriguing for a proper Operation that would be suited to Lafiya Dole or Crocodile Smile. There has been no buzz in news circles about the investigation of any top person in the Military and it would be hard to imagine this as the announcement of that, though not impossible.

The politicization of trials has been one of the major criticisms of the EFCC, right from the days of its first Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, but it should not foreclose the good chance that the Commission also has big enemies in other sectors outside of the playground of politics.

Editor