Rights group plans mass protest against alleged extortion by FRSC

• Allegation spurious, cheap blackmail, says corps
• EFCC seeks more support for anti-graft fight

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has called on the Federal Government, Department of State Services (DSS), Inspector General of Police as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and other anti-crime agencies to beam their searchlight on the alleged graft in the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Delta State.

Consequently, the group vowed to stage a protest march on August 16 against the alleged extortion by men and officers of the corps in a statement yesterday in Warri by its state chairman, Prince Kehinde Taiga.

But in a swift reaction, the Commander, Warri Unit Command of the corps, Isah Seidu, described the allegation as spurious, unacceptable, cheap blackmail and falsehood, noting that his organisation was not one of the revenue-collecting agencies involved in the issuance of national driver’s licence.

Taiga had alleged that the corps was milking residents between N18,000 and 25,000 for the document. He added that investigation carried out by him in Warri, Effurun, Udu and Asaba confirmed the alleged extortion. The license officially goes for N6,350.

He said: “We are compelled by the collective reality of the Nigerian agenda to act at this point, seeking a corrupt-free nation worth workable institutions. As a human right body, we can no longer sit in the comfortable chamber of disequilibrium while our state continues to burn under the gross and brutal extortion by the FRSC. Its officers have vowed to frustrate anyone who will not key into the illegal prices with a tactics to delay and deny data capturing at the state command.”

Seidu challenged the rights group to name the culprits instead of casting the entire corps in bad light.

Meanwhile, the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has called on Nigerians to support the ongoing anti-graft crusade. He canvassed the mobilisation and sensitisation of the grassroots on the danger of corrupt practices to their future.

Speaking at the Project on Support to Anti-Corruption in Nigeria, organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Magu enjoined stakeholders to remain steadfast even in the face of noticeable anomalies, especially the celebration of the menace in high places.