The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Benin Zonal Office in collaboration with members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC/CDS Group, Ondo East and Ondo West zone, on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 embarked on an enlightenment and sensitisation campaign on the ills of corruption and other forms of criminality at Iyaleje Market, popularly known as Oja, in Ondo City, Ondo State.

The Commission’s Head, Public Affairs Department, Benin Zonal Office, Williams Oseghale, said the enlightenment campaign was to engender public ownership of the fight against corruption.

Speaking in Pidgin English, he urged the market women and men to shun corruption and to prevail on their children and wards to desist from internet fraud popularly known as yahoo yahoo. “Make una tell una children say yahoo yahoo no bi work o. EFCC no dey joke o. EFCC go catch you, carry you go court and court go carry you go prison,” he said.

Amidst singing and drumming, the corps members intermittently engaged the market women and men in Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa, educating them on the ills of corruption and it consequences on the larger society. They also carried placards condemning corrupt practices both in English and Yoruba languages. Some of the messages read: “E Maa Lu Jibiti Mo” – “Don’t Defraud Anyone”; “E Mase Gba Riba” – “Don’t Collect Bribe”; and “E Jawo Ninu Iwa Jegudu” – “Remove Your Hands From Fraudulent Activities”.

President of the NYSC/EFCC CDS Group, Akwarandu Princewell, said the campaign gave them the platform to draw public attention to the evils of corruption. “We told them that corruption is bad, that yahoo yahoo is bad, that examination malpractice is bad, that hoarding of goods is bad,” he said.

The CDS group’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Oyedele, said he was delighted with the collaboration. “It afforded me the opportunity to contribute my quota in the fight against corruption by sensitisating people at the grassroots,” he said.

•PHOTO: EFCC and NYSC/CDS Group members during Wednesday’s enlightenment and sensitisation campaign on the ills of corruption and other forms of criminality at Iyaleje Market, Ondo