An investigator at Nigeria’s financial crimes agency was shot after leaving his office, underlining the dangers faced by those looking into corruption, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on Wednesday.
Austin Okwor, one of a team investigating allegations of corruption in the judiciary, is being treated in hospital for wounds sustained in the attack in Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s oil hub city, on Saturday evening.
“Before the incident, the officer had been receiving threatening text messages. One of such messages which he received some time in May 2017 was reported to the police,” said EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren.
“This incident underlines the hazards which operatives of the commission are daily exposed to in the discharge of their duties.”
A spokesman for Rivers state police, which is responsible for Port Harcourt, declined to comment.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in May 2015, made fighting corruption a key part of his government’s agenda but this is yet to result in high profile convictions.
