The former chairman of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), Muhyi Magaji Rimin Gado, says confronting corruption in Nigeria is as dangerous as taking on Colombia’s notorious drug cartels.

Speaking in Lagos as keynote speaker at the public presentation of the 19th edition of 100 High-Profile Corruption Cases in Nigeria, organised by HEDA Resource Centre and partners to mark International Anti-Corruption Day, Rimin Gado warned that corruption is fuelling insecurity and poverty across the North.

He said the rise in violence, banditry and mass hardship is tied to widespread looting by public officials whose actions leave millions in deep deprivation. According to him, criminals easily recruit from communities abandoned by failed policies and stolen funds.

Rimin Gado recounted his experience while probing corruption cases in Kano, saying he uncovered billions of naira allegedly diverted through questionable Public-Private Partnership projects and fraudulent revenue channels, including land rents.

He said the scale of graft he uncovered triggered threats to his life and a recent dramatic arrest. He described how armed security operatives stormed his home last Friday, seized him in the presence of his family and drove him overnight from Kano to Abuja, where he was detained for 17 hours.

He said he was wedged between armed officers throughout the journey and feared for the safety of everyone in the convoy. “The cases I investigated involved billions stolen by public officials. They are desperate to kill to protect the money. They are as dangerous as the drug lords in Colombia,” he said.

He compared the behaviour of corrupt politicians to the infamous Medellín and Cali cartels, whose cocaine empire fuelled corruption, violence and bloodshed across Colombia. Nigeria, he warned, risks similar chaos if entrenched graft is not confronted.

According to him, fighting corruption is almost impossible when law enforcement agencies are compromised by the same politicians they should investigate. He accused some police officers of being used against him by what he called “powerful and stupendously corrupt actors.”

Rimin Gado argued that his arrest was unlawful because he was carrying out a legal mandate granted by the Kano attorney general. “I was given a fiat to prosecute offences under Kano laws. Why arrest me for doing my duty? If they can, why not arrest the state?” he asked.

He criticised the police for probing matters already before a court, saying it was improper for investigators to interfere with a criminal process that has been formally initiated.

Calling on young Nigerians to defend integrity and reject corrupt leaders at the ballot box, he said Nigeria’s development will remain stalled as long as “a league of corrupt elite” dominates public office. He urged citizens to use democratic tools to vote out politicians who “sell the people’s birthrights” and undermine the nation’s future.

He added that corruption in Nigeria must be treated like a dangerous disease that requires “a painful but necessary surgical operation” if the country is to recover and regain respect globally.