Corruption: EFCC grills 10 judges

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have interrogated 10 judges of the Federal High Court for alleged corruption.

An operative of the commission, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said more judges had been invited for interrogation next week.

As of the time of filing this story, operatives of the commission were expecting a prominent judicial official for allegedly demanding N10m bribe from a retired officer of the Nigeria Customs Service.

“The commission has commenced the interrogation of some judges of the Federal High Court, Abuja. Not less than 10 of the judges have been quizzed while more are still being expected,” the source said.

Investigations revealed that the 10 judges were interrogated within the week by operatives of the Investigations and Special Operations Division of the EFCC.

The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed ongoing investigation by the commission into alleged corruption in the judiciary during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

However, the EFCC spokesman refused to disclose the identities of the judicial officers and the number of judges who had been grilled by the operatives of the commission.

He said that it would be premature to release the identities and the number of judicial officers who had been interrogated so far for alleged corruption by the anti-graft agency.

He said that the commission would not hesitate to release details of the investigation whenever a prima facie case had been established against any of the judges being interrogated.

According to him, many of the judges interrogated have made statements while others are being expected.

He said, “The commission has in the past few weeks stepped up investigation into cases of alleged corruption in the judiciary.

“As we speak, some prominent judicial officers have been quizzed while others have been invited for interrogation.”