Ibori's investigator attacked by gunmen

By Elor Nkereuwem


April 6, 2010 02:29AM
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Solomon Yorr, an official of Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is in a battle for life as medical personnel struggle to patch up his bullet ridden chest.

Mr. Yorr, in the past few weeks, has been intensely involved in the investigation of the former Delta State governor, James Ibori. He is the second-in-command of the team in charge of Mr. Ibori's investigation.

Mr. Yorr, who is attached to the Economic Governance Unit, an elite group in the commission which handles mainly cases of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), was attacked by gunmen on Sunday night in his home in Keffi, Nassarawa.

Femi Babafemi, the head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, in a press statement yesterday, said that the operative is now receiving medical attention and has been installed in an Intensive Care Unit(ICU) in Abuja.

EFCC operatives, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, expressed fears that the attempt on Mr. Yorr's life was not unconnected with the high profile investigations that he has been handling.

Increased tempo and increased attacks

Mr. Babafemi of the EFCC told NEXT in Abuja yesterday, that the recent attacks on operatives of the commission was a result of the increased pace of high profile investigations undertaken by the commission, while debunking the idea that the recent attacks was indicative of a revamp in the quality of investigations being carried out by the EFCC.

"The steam has always been there. We are also raising the tempo of our activities. Some of these attacks are rooted in the desperation of some corrupt politicians to succeed in the 2011 elections. We had already alerted the public on the threats that we have been receiving," he said.

Mr. Babafemi said that between December, 2009 and March, 2010, two active operatives and one former operative of the commission had been killed. But he restated the determination of the anti- corruption agency to go ahead with its duties.

"The EFCC chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, has since directed that security should be beefed up around the officer, while she prays for his recovery. She has equally stressed that the various attacks against the agency and its officials will not in any way distract or deter us," Mr. Babafemi said.

Taking care of its own

A Lagos-based human rights attorney, Jiti Ogunye, however, had harsh words for the leadership of the anti-graft agency, who he says is not doing enough to safe guard the lives of its operatives.

"My observation is that the leadership of the EFCC may not be doing enough to protect its operatives," he said, adding that he feared that the continued attacks on operatives could demoralise their colleagues.

"For a law enforcement agency, it is important that perpetually, the capacity of that agency is bolstered such that it stays ahead of criminals or would-be-criminals. Part of the capacity should be its ability to protect its operatives. It is very important that a law enforcement agency must be able to do that," Mr. Ogunye stressed.

Mr. Ogunye dismissed the idea that the EFCC may be working harder than in the past, and insisted that the leadership of the EFCC must look inwards to solve its current challenge.

"There might be a self-inflicted disability on the part of the leadership of the EFCC, because once the leadership is compromised, then the operatives will no longer be safe. The commission must look inwards to find out what they have not been doing right to protect their operatives," he said.



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How sweet it would be when Ibori is brought to justice.

Sky Blue:

How sweet it would be when Ibori is brought to justice.

The man has vanished isn't it? I hope EFCC have got Interpol on his tail.

If members of the EFCC are being attacked, sad as it is, ironically means they are doing a proper job.
Its again better than seeing them living a cosy life working in a country like Naija.

The government needs to properly renumerate and compensate these brave individuals. A good fraction of recovered loot can be set aside to meet this cost.

nigeria james bond 007 is at it again, this man should be jailed for life.

newmaster:

nigeria james bond 007 is at it again, this man should be jailed for life.

Who would bell the cat?

Maybe Ribadu.

Beaf:

The man has vanished isn't it? I hope EFCC have got Interpol on his tail.

As long as he is brought to book. I seem to have this fantasy of spotting Ibori at some international airport after he has been declared wanted, and being the one to make the phone call to the authorities after which I stand and watch as over zealous pot bellied Nigerian police officers drop in from the glass roof and rough him up naija style before taking him into custody. I can't wait till it is Peter Odili's turn too.

This man's desperation is getting out of hand.

Sky Blue:

As long as he is brought to book. I seem to have this fantasy of spotting Ibori at some international airport after he has been declared wanted, and being the one to make the phone call to the authorities after which I stand and watch as over zealous pot bellied Nigerian police officers drop in from the glass roof and rough him up naija style before taking him into custody.

You watching too many 24/prison break

Sky Blue:

I can't wait till it is Peter Odili's turn too.

And Luckly Igbinedion, Joshua Dariye, Orji Kalu, etc.

Sky Blue:

As long as he is brought to book. I seem to have this fantasy of spotting Ibori at some international airport after he has been declared wanted, and being the one to make the phone call to the authorities after which I stand and watch as over zealous pot bellied Nigerian police officers drop in from the glass roof and rough him up naija style before taking him into custody. I can't wait till it is Peter Odili's turn too.

You wicked o!
That would be well deserved.

What about Aondoakaa? I think for that one, they should just set dogs on him.

This is indeed very sad, and to think that Nigerians who dont understand the workings of the EFCC will just jump up and shout that the EFCC is not working, if they were not working why would their operatives be under constant attack. 2 dead already another in ICU Nigerians pls let us encourage our personnel who work hard to make this country a better place, they should be well compensated and their families should not be forgotten.

whatsoever is making ppl to rejoice here is making me to weep.
what a shame? nigeria and nigerians leaving the object for shadow.
are we deltans or are we nigerians? what ever happened to all the federal contracts awarded by obasanjo and all the funds spent on federal projects?
how come ibori is the problem of every nigerian? what will the death of ibori bring to us as nigerians? delta is just a state out of 36 plus abuja.
where are the other govs? why are we not asking why the other former govs are ministers and ambassadores, while others are facing trials.
i am from imo state and achike udenwa was my gov under obasanjo and was later made a minister under yar adua. i am waiting for someone who will tell me why ibori is facing trial while udenwa is facing promotion apart from udenwa being the first gov to sign the third term agenda.
if i am in ibori's shoes, i will use my last resources in fighting this personal wars. i will introduce granade and bombs and i will kill as many as possible before giving up.
enough of this one man show in a country of over 150 million ppl.
tell me any of those former govs that was loyal to obasanjo that is facing this same trial with ibori today.
the ribadu who judge others refused to face the law when he was invited so who is fooling who?
i must say this here, ibori is a fool.
if i were him, by now 100 men will be down because i know he has what it takes to kill.
why will u choose among the govs who faces trial and who gets appointments?
ibori and other victims of this otah beats shld get themselves together and put up a lasting war and by so doing, the much awaited liberation from the claws of this deadly and devilish man might come sooner than we expect.

@ chidchris
u benefitted from ibori's loot abi?
Abeg talk sense jare!

chidichris:

whatsoever is making ppl to rejoice here is making me to weep.
what a shame? nigeria and nigerians leaving the object for shadow.
are we deltans or are we nigerians? what ever happened to all the federal contracts awarded by obasanjo and all the funds spent on federal projects?
how come ibori is the problem of every nigerian? what will the death of ibori bring to us as nigerians? delta is just a state out of 36 plus abuja.
where are the other govs? why are we not asking why the other former govs are ministers and ambassadores, while others are facing trials.
i am from imo state and achike udenwa was my gov under obasanjo and was later made a minister under yar adua. i am waiting for someone who will tell me why ibori is facing trial while udenwa is facing promotion apart from udenwa being the first gov to sign the third term agenda.
if i am in ibori's shoes, i will use my last resources in fighting this personal wars. i will introduce granade and bombs and i will kill as many as possible before giving up.
enough of this one man show in a country of over 150 million ppl.
tell me any of those former govs that was loyal to obasanjo that is facing this same trial with ibori today.
the ribadu who judge others refused to face the law when he was invited so who is fooling who?
i must say this here, ibori is a fool.
if i were him, by now 100 men will be down because i know he has what it takes to kill.
why will u choose among the govs who faces trial and who gets appointments?
ibori and other victims of this otah beats shld get themselves together and put up a lasting war and by so doing, the much awaited liberation from the claws of this deadly and devilish man might come sooner than we expect.

? ? ?

I don't care the order, as long as they are prosecuted and dispathced to kiri kiri with expediency when found wanting. If it is Ibori's turn first up, then so be it. Abi dem no chop people money?

What i fail to understand is how an organization like EFCC has no armed section. The EFCC men should be trained in armed combat and provided with bullet proof vest e.t.c

In countries like South Africa ,their version of the EFCC which is simply know as "The Hawks" are equipped to the teeth with the best assault weapons money can buy ,bullet proof turbo charged vehicles/ Superbikes for high speed pursuit and various other top notch equipments.

I once saw a video of an EFCC office on youtube and i felt very sad. The office looked like a crack house, it was filthy and there were files all over the place.

Why is it that in Nigeria ,we just can't do things the right way ? Why ? Are we just cursed or what ?

Not only in South Africa, when i visited Angola recently I was shocked to see how developed the country had become. The last time i was in Angola was July 2009 but when i went there last week, i can not lie, i was so jealous. These guys are developing at the speed of light. The roads are tarred, there are new residential estates, new golf estates, new shopping malls,24 hr electricity. I mean for a second i thought i was in Australia.

And you know this country does not produce as much oil as we do but the capital is already more beautiful and far far far far far cleaner than Lagos. The police are well equipped ,the streets are swept on time ,there is absolutely no litter. The president is really committed to changing the lives of his people. Even their internet speed is on par with South Africa. Another thing i noticed is that they have changed their immigration laws and visa requirements; it is very difficult now to get a visa to Angola. From what i gather many Nigerians are now being rejected visas. Luckily for me ,i have been going there since 2006 so i won’t have any problems. I was even contemplating moving to Angola but decided against it because of the language barrier, especially for my kids.

Countries here in the South of Africa are the lucky ones because they have sensible leaders who care about the image of their country. Even though Congo is still fighting a proxy war against the USA, their major cities is bustling with foreign investments, skyscrapers ,residential estates e.t.c The same goes for Mozambique ,a few years ago Mozambique’s currency (metical) had no value but the president hired the best hands to manage the economy and now the Metical is stronger than the Naira.

Mozambique used to be a very dirty country but all that has changed now ,the cities have been cleaned and the air is fresh. If these countries that went through decades of civil war can turn around and change their environment in a matter of two years ,why can't we in Nigeria do the same?

Many of our politicians go to these Southern African countries and invest their monies there but they refuse to fix Nigeria. Obasanjo owns 1 skyscraper in South Africa and several other luxurious properties but the naughty person cannot fix anything in Nigeria.

chidichris:

whatsoever is making ppl to rejoice here is making me to weep.
what a shame? nigeria and nigerians leaving the object for shadow.
are we deltans or are we nigerians? what ever happened to all the federal contracts awarded by obasanjo and all the funds spent on federal projects?
how come ibori is the problem of every nigerian? what will the death of ibori bring to us as nigerians? delta is just a state out of 36 plus abuja.
where are the other govs? why are we not asking why the other former govs are ministers and ambassadores, while others are facing trials.
i am from imo state and achike udenwa was my gov under obasanjo and was later made a minister under yar adua. i am waiting for someone who will tell me why ibori is facing trial while udenwa is facing promotion apart from udenwa being the first gov to sign the third term agenda.
if i am in ibori's shoes, i will use my last resources in fighting this personal wars. i will introduce granade and bombs and i will kill as many as possible before giving up.
enough of this one man show in a country of over 150 million ppl.
tell me any of those former govs that was loyal to obasanjo that is facing this same trial with ibori today.
the ribadu who judge others refused to face the law when he was invited so who is fooling who?
i must say this here, ibori is a fool.
if i were him, by now 100 men will be down because i know he has what it takes to kill.
why will u choose among the govs who faces trial and who gets appointments?
ibori and other victims of this otah beats shld get themselves together and put up a lasting war and by so doing, the much awaited liberation from the claws of this deadly and devilish man might come sooner than we expect.

i think the war on corruption was biased during the obasanjo regime.if you look at the current events happening in the polity,you will agree with me.ibori was the sole financier of yaradua campaign,so it is expected of him to be victimized.towards the end of 2006,ribadu made a stunning revelation before the senate where he said that 27 governors are corrupt.that was prior to the third term palaver,which was a strategy used by obj to coerce the governors into talking their senators into convincing supporting the third term.at the end of the day,ribadu refuted his allegation and said only seven of them are corrupt which included alams,dariye,fayose,lucky and a few others that were never prosecuted despite being investigated.nigeria politicians are very cunning and i hope efcc will be objective in his fight against corruption.they should als probe ACTING FIRST LADY PATIENCE JONATHAN if it is really fighting a genuine anti-corruption war

~Bluetooth:

i think the war on corruption was biased during the obasanjo regime.if you look at the current events happening in the polity,you will agree with me.ibori was the sole financier of yaradua campaign,so it is expected of him to be victimized.towards the end of 2006,ribadu made a stunning revelation before the senate where he said that 27 governors are corrupt.that was prior to the third term palaver,which was a strategy used by obj to coerce the governors into talking their senators into convincing supporting the third term.at the end of the day,ribadu refuted his allegation and said only seven of them are corrupt which included alams,dariye,fayose,lucky and a few others that were never prosecuted despite being investigated.nigeria politicians are very cunning and i hope efcc will be objective in his fight against corruption.they should als probe ACTING FIRST LADY PATIENCE JONATHAN if it is really fighting a genuine anti-corruption war

^^^ You want SSS Beaf to arrest you ? 

They removed a burglar and installed an acting armed robber,now they are jumping up and down as if they are saved

That is Niggeria for you!

6 months down the line,my comments will be justified.

EmperorOlu:

^^^ You want SSS Beaf to arrest you ? 

They removed a burglar and installed an acting armed robber,now they are jumping up and down as if they are saved

That is Niggeria for you!

6 months down the line,my comments will be justified.

beaf may be a mopol if he likes but truth must be told jonathan is corrupt as well as patience who has been caught several times with millions of dollars in the airports.do you know why jonathan couldnt declare his assests on time,cuz he had to transfer them to his wife's name.jonathan must be probed at the end of his acting tenure!!!

Beaf:

What about Aondoakaa? I think for that one, they should just set dogs on him.

Lol. Imm. Jonathan assumed office the guy took a compulsory leave of no return to an unknown destination. That was the last thing i heard about him. That Guy and people like Ibori deserve to be put in a cage for the next generation to use them as a tourist spot.

it is no news that james ibori looted delta state.so did all the past and present presidents,governors and political appointees.let us stop being deceived into hating one man because of his political differences with the ruling cabal.

Abagworo:

it is no news that james ibori looted delta state.so did all the past and present presidents,governors and political appointees.let us stop being deceived into hating one man because of his political differences with the ruling cabal.

So what do you suggest we do? Start singing songs of praises for him since he is not the only criminal in Delta State or Nigeria?

princekevo:

So what do you suggest we do? Start singing songs of praises for him since he is not the only criminal in Delta State or Nigeria?

nope but justice should be done equally.why would lucky igbinedion who ruined edo state for 8 years escaped imprisonment and pay just 3 million naira while bode george was sent to prison.orji kalu,fayose,jolly nyame,dariye,alams case have been forgotten.selective justice wont do us any good at all

nope but justice should be done equally

This is one big problem with us Nigerians. The mentality of "if you can't catch all the disease-infested rats in one go, let them all be". Whatever happened to a step at a time?

When the US was going after Al Capone with the must ruthless methods imaginable, I can assure you he wasn't the only currupt crook in town,

EFCC will keep losing thier men because when this guys have gone thru it all to
investigate graft,rubbish is made of the whole effort thru lack of
proper prosecution and seeing that justice is done.

Ibori's act can be seen from far away. He might be behind this or someone else trying to use the opportunity to spoil his name.

daam daam 9ja playing Godfada we know d perpetrator but prove it, wow this is so mafioso
dude thot he could jus put some1 in jail like dat , well he beta have a rethink cos the heat is on
sha it is pitiful feel for the poor dude

sulad82i:

Ibori's act can be seen from far away. He might be behind this or someone else trying to use the opportunity to spoil his name.

Which name does he have to spoil He is the one

Still water runs deep.

Underestimate your adversary at your peril.

You dont put up a rabbit snare and hope you catch an elephant.

IBOOOOOOORRRRRIIII OOOOOO u hv attacked the 3 rd man in charge of ur investigation. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, time is almost up. no wonder ex-governors r mobilising against ribadu's return so one person dey wey go make these good-4-nothing idiots turn to rogues

We should be careful the way we link this to ibori. i was once a journalist and there is a way to dress a story . The story did not say ibori engineered the attack so we should not make any mistake about that. Afterall it is not only ibori the man is investigating. having cleared that, i have a very strong reservation for ibori. It was him that nominated his lawyer, Aondoakaa as AGF and swiftly aondoakaa saw to the removal of Ribadu and nearly killed EFCC just for ibori to be left off the hook. infact  Aondoakaa arranged a press conference where he cleared ibori of any wrongdoing and also refused to supply witnesses for London police in ibori trial. I believe ibori can go to any length to "prove " his innocence. u know what i mean

iboriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii