The Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) has launched an app, Eagle Eye, designed to ease the process of reporting economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.
The EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, made this known on Wednesday.
Speaking during the launch, the Executive Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, described the app, which is the first of its kind by any law enforcement agency in Nigeria, as a product of ingenuity by a staff of the Commission, being an application that was conceived, designed and developed by the EFCC.
The EFCC chairman described the initiative as a clear demonstration of his pledge to run an agency that is technology-driven when he assumed office.
According to Bawa, “the Eagle Eye represents a new experience in information sharing and crime reporting between the public and the EFCC.”
Aside complementing the existing channels for reporting economic crimes, the unique advantage of this application, the EFCC Chairman further explained, is that it eliminates direct person-to-person interface in the reporting process and guarantees anonymity, which would be an added incentive to effective whistle blowing.
Appealing to members of the public to take advantage of the app in bringing cases of corruption and economic crimes to the knowledge of the EFCC, Bawa said, “with the app, those who hitherto were afraid to report corruption cases to the Commission, either for fear of being identified by the culprits or having their identities revealed, can now do so with the assurance of full anonymity.”
He emphasized that the Eagle Eye app would go a long way in aiding the reportage of fraudulent activities of individuals, particularly the case of money laundering through real estate.
He added: “With the Eagle Eye, Nigerians and non-Nigerians can easily take a picture of a property suspected to have been fraudulently or corruptly acquired and report through the App seamlessly.”
He also stressed on journalists occupying vantage positions as media practitioners, not only in helping to bring the knowledge of the application to the public, but also making use of it and helping others to understand how it could be deployed to further the fight against economic crimes including corruption.
“With the Eagle Eye, you have at your fingertips a device that will ultimately ensure that there is no hiding place for the corrupt in Nigeria,” he further explained.
Describing how it works, the EFCC Chairman said that Eagle Eye is a user-friendly application, with features that could be navigated by any literate person.
The first step would be to download it to adevice from either the Apple of Google play store, he said.
The EFCC Chairman also said that those who would want to key into the whistle blowing policy of the federal government and obtain reward for reporting corruption should indicate in the information they would be providing.
Bawa stated further that there would be penalties clearly stipulated in the laws, for giving false information that could mislead the Commission.
