A British managed organisation funded by the European Union (EU), the Rule of Law And Anti-corruption (RoLAC), has organised a four-day training for anti-corruption agencies’ investigators in Lagos, to improve investigation of corruption cases in Nigeria.
The investigators were drawn from the Special Fraud Unit of the police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Code of Conduct Tribunal and Code of Conduct Bureau.
RoLAC programme officer, Mr Pwanakei Dala, said that the training was aimed at improving the capacity of participants in investigating corruption cases.
According to Dala, the training will improve good governance, rule of Law, address issues of corruption, and strengthen the anti-corruption institutions for better performance.
“We have 26 officers participating in the training. Often times, we discovered through investigation that some cases of anti-corruption were not successful in court due to poor investigation and prosecution.
“There is no enough coordination on how to fight specific corruption cases in Nigeria; one anti-corruption agency needs the assistance of others to dispense it case.
“The training would improve the agencies’ ability to work together,” he said.
One of the facilitators, a former Director at the Directorate of Public Prosecution in Nigeria, Mrs Olufemi Fatunde, said the training was to meet capacity building needs of investigators and prosecutors.
Fatunde said through the training, the participants should be able to carry out effective investigations and prosecutions.
She commended the EU and the British Council for the training, stressing the need for Nigeria government and organisations to organise capacity building for anti-corruption agencies.
Another facilitator, Mr Austin Emumejakpor said participants were expected to apply the law of evidence in investigation of crime generally, conduct effective interview or interrogation.
“Participants should be able to use modern techniques to record statements of suspects and witnesses, carry out arrest, conduct searches and seizures, respecting fundamental human rights of suspects.
“They should be able to preserve evidence (exhibits) without compromising their integrity and analyze offences and source relevant evidence on point to prove,” he said.
The participants commended the organiser of the training and called for more of such capacity building programmes.
An operative of the Police Special Fraud Unit, Mrs Ngozi Isitumen-Agwu, said the training exposed her to many things she never knew that were useful to her job.
Also, Mr Douglas Oditah, ICPC personnel, said the training would enhance his performance in his job, while Mrs Olafunke Popoola of CCB said the training gave her insight about the operations of other ant-corruption agencies.