Panic as gunmen shoot EFCC official investigating judges

Unknown gunmen have shot an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Austin Okwor last Saturday (June 24) while leaving his office in Port Harcourt.

Okwor is presently receiving treatments after sustaining injuries from the gunshot.

According to a statement by the spokesperson of the antigraft agency, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, Okwor was one of the operatives investigating some sensitive cases including a case pertaining to alleged corrupt judicial officials.

The commission said Okwor, who is attached to the Property Fraud Section of the EFCC zonal office in Port Harcourt, was shot on June 24 while leaving his office.

The statement partly read, “Mr. Austin Okwor, an operative in the Property Fraud Section of the EFCC zonal office in Port Harcourt, had closed late for the day and as he left office, he was suddenly accosted by a gang of daredevil hoodlums who opened fire on him.

“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. Okwor is one of the operatives investigating some sensitive cases including that pertaining to corrupt judicial officials.”

The anti-graft agency said the victim had been receiving threat messages before the incident. One of such messages which he received last month was reported to the police.

The commission said the incident underlined the hazards which operatives were daily exposed to in the discharge of their duties.

It noted that on 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, a team of prosecutors returning to Enugu after a court appearance in Owerri, Imo State, was attacked by gunmen who opened fire on them. Sergeant Eze Edoga, the police escort, was killed while a senior counsel with the commission, Joseph Uzor, was wounded but survived.