by Stanley Azuakola

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), one of the bodies charged with fighting corruption in the country, had two of its officials, Douglas William and Abba Ishaku, sentenced on Thursday to five years imprisonment without an option of fine by an Abuja High Court.

The offenses for which they were arraigned included conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretense.

Despite the fact that they were stationed at the reception of the commission’s headquarters in Wuse, Abuja, the two officers allegedly demanded for the sum of N100 thousand from one Kullima Kachalla, a former Chairman of Bama Local Government of Borno state, in 2010, by posing as investigators of the EFCC.

They allegedly demanded for the money from Mr. Kachalla in order to bribe other investigators of the Commission to destroy a petition written to the EFCC, which supposedly indicted the former chairman of alleged mismanagement
of public funds.

Unfortunately for them, Mr. Kachalla had alerted the commission of the demands of the two accused persons which led to an undercover operation, in which an EFCC officer posed as Kachalla’s representative during what was supposed to be the exchange.

In the course of receiving the money, the both of them were arrested in 2010 and arraigned on October 17, 2010 for the offence.

The presiding judge, Justice Abubakar Umar, who sentenced the duo on Thursday, ruled that because they had both suffered enough humiliation, their sentence should commence from October 18, 2010, the date of their arraignment.