Lamorde must go protesters block EFCC office

Over 20 Civil Society Organisations on Tuesday barricaded the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Abuja, calling for the sacking of its chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.

The CSOs, under the aegis of the Coalition of Civil Liberties and Equity, led by Stanley Onukwufor, besieged the Abuja office of EFCC, alleging that the commission had been compromised by a powerful cabal made up of politicians, advising that President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to successfully tackle corruption in Nigeria can only succeed with Lamorde out of the way.

Some of the placards carried by the protesters read: “Sack Lamorde now,” “Cabals have hijacked EFCC,” “Buhari merge EFCC, ICPC now,” Lamorde has been compromised”, among others.

But spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, described the protesters as a group which wanted to mislead Nigerians and distract the agency, urging Nigerians to ignore them, pointing out that they are “misguided elements out to assault our collective sensibilities with a choreographed protest paid for by corrupt persons being prosecuted by the EFCC,” calling on their sponsors to “go and face their trial in court.”