BEVERLY HILLS, June 28, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has revealed how one of its top investigators escaped death by the whiskers when gunmen opened fire on him in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
It said the operative in the Property Fraud Section of the EFCC Zonal office in Port Harcourt, Austin Okwor, had closed late for the day on June 24, adding that as he left office, he was suddenly accosted by a gang of hoodlums who opened fire on him.
Spokesman for the commission, Wilson Uwujaren said, in a statement, that, “Luckily for him, he was able to shake off his assailants but not without sustaining some bullet wounds as they kept firing at him.
“He was rushed to a private hospital in Port Harcourt where he is receiving treatment. According to Ishaq Salihu, Head of the Zonal office, the incident has already been reported to the Police in Port Harcourt.”
Uwujaren stated that Okwor is one of the operatives investigating some sensitive cases including that pertaining to corrupt judicial officials.
The commission disclosed that before the incident, the officer had been receiving threat messages.
One of such messages which he received sometime in May 2017 was reported to the Police, the commission said.
“This incident underlines the hazards which operatives of the Commission are daily exposed to in the discharge of their duties,” the statement said.
Uwujaren recalled that in September 14, 2010, the head of the Commission’s Forensic Unit, Abdullahi Muazu, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen in Kaduna.
Six months earlier, the commission said, a team of prosecutors returning to Enugu after a court appearance in Owerri, Imo State, was attacked by gunmen who opened fire on them.
The police escort, Eze Edoga, was cut down while a senior counsel with the anti-graft agency, Joseph Uzor, was critically wounded but survived.
