R*E*A*L*I*T*Y! #Police, ICPC, EFCC Lead In Corruption Index – Report# The Nigeria Police and the country’s two major anti-corruption agencies, the EFCC and the ICPC have come tops among the FG agencies presently enmeshed in bribery and corruption. This was the findings of a 2013 National Crime Victimisation and Safety survey conducted by the CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with the Macarthur Foundation. The report also describes a weak and corrupt judiciary as one of the constraints to the fight against corruption. According to the reports, some of the states leading in the corruption index include Rivers, Borno, Cross River, Niger, Gombe, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Anambra and Kwara while the lowest incidences were recorded in Katsina, Ogun and Akwa-Ibom states. In her opening remarks during the public presentation of the survey’s findings, CLEEN executive director, Ms Kemi Okonedo, said the survey was aimed to track patterns of crime in the country and find solutions to them. According to her, the survey, which was conducted with 11,518 respondents drawn from all the states of the country, shed light on the experience of victims of rape, domestic violence, robbery kidnap and murder among others. Some of the FG agencies listed and their rate of propensity of their officers to collect bribes are: police - 33%, immigration - 26%, ICPC - 25%, customs -24%, PHCN - 23%, EFCC- 23%, FRSC- 20% and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence officials (NSCDC) - 19% Others are tax/revenue officials - 18%, municipal/ local government councillors -18%, State Security Service (SSS) - 18%, National Assembly members - 17%, local government officials - 16%, lower court officials - 15%, higher courts officials - 14%, and lecturers and professors of tertiary institutions -10% Agencies below 10% include post office officials, gas/petrol attendants, prison warden/ officers, primary and secondary school teachers and doctors and nurses. Part of the survey presentation read: “The findings of the survey showed that bribery and corruption among government officials in Nigeria remain high. Nearly one out of every four respondents admitted having paid a bribe or having been asked to pay bribes by government officials before services could be rendered to them. “The 2013 survey also showed that bribery and corruption among public officials such as police, customs officers, court personnel, tax officials, anti-corruption agencies and PHCN employees were higher in Rivers, Borno, Cross River, Niger, Gombe, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Anambra and Kwara states. The lowest incidences were recorded in Katsina, Ogun and Akwa Ibom states.”
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 11:25:13 +0000