Gunmen injure EFCC operative in Port Harcourt

An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Austin Okwor, was shot by unknown gunmen in Port Harcourt on Saturday, June 24, 2017.

This was confirmed in a statement by the commission's spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren, who revealed that the operative in the Property Fraud Section of the EFCC Zonal office in Port Harcourt escaped death during the incident.

According to the statement, "Okwor is one of the operatives investigating some sensitive cases including that pertaining to corrupt judicial officials."

According to the statement, there had been earlier threats made to his life.

Uwujaren said, "Before the incident, the officer had been receiving threat messages. One of such messages which he received sometime in May 2017 was reported to the Police.

"This incident underlines the hazards which operatives of the Commission are daily exposed to in the discharge of their duties."

The incident, which has been reported to the police, is not the first involving attacks against operatives of the EFCC.

In 2010, Abdullahi Muazu, who was the head of the Commission's Forensic Unit, was shot dead in Kaduna while a team of prosecutors travelling to Enugu were also attacked by gunmen six months earlier.