Why Tafa Balogun was arrested , jailed for fraud - Ribadu

The pioneer Chairman of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission
( EFCC) , Mallam Nuhu Ribadu , has
explained why he (as an Assistant
Commissioner of Police ) arrested a
former Inspector General of Police, Tafa
Balogun .
He said since justice is blind , Balogun
crossed the line and had to face trial for
corruption.
He also said there are smarter crooks
than ex -governor James Ibori in the
country .
The EFCC under Ribadu had arrested and
put the former IGP on trial for about
N 5 .7 billion official corruption.
Ribadu , who bared his mind on one of
the most celebrated trials in the country
in an interview with EFCC Magazine ,
" Zero Tolerance, " said the fear of God
made him to arrest the then IGP instead
of his status.
He said : " Well, the point is that whoever
crosses the line will be dealt with .
Whether a constable or an IGP, it 's the
same thing . The solution is not to cross
the line.
" When you execute your mandate
honestly , you become blind to the
position of individuals. Justice is blind .
" So, Tafa Balogun was my boss as the
Inspector -General of Police, but he
crossed the line. He did things that were
wrong and was brought to our attention,
and the law took its course .
" To be honest , I thank God for having
only one fear; that is the fear of God . It
is not arrogance or anything , no it 's just
that I feel what is right is right and in
doing what is right , I don't fear any
mortal .
" I have never looked for anything in
terms of benefit in any position I have
occupied; even in the police , an IGP
could not give me anything .
" A President could not give me
anything . Obasanjo never gave me an
office pin up till this very moment!
Never !
" A lot of people feel EFCC broke several
laws or Obasanjo gave me everything.
What did he give me ? The entire budget
of EFCC from beginning up to the time I
left was not up to N 11 billion for five
years! We never got anything extra ,
never!
" The people we brought to justice were
the closest people to him ( Obasanjo) ,
they were PDP men ; but others will turn
it upside down and lie. It 's really sad ,
and a lot of them got away with it . "
On the corruption charges against ex -
Governor James Ibori ,
" There are worse people than James
Ibori in Nigeria. I think probably James
was not the smartest one among them .
There are some crooks worse than
James ; and I still see them .
" Some of them are even being
celebrated right now in our country.
Some of them are trying to re -write
history. James didn' t handle his own
criminal affairs smartly, and he ended
up paying dearly for it.
" There are smarter crooks than James,
who did more damage to the EFCC ; but
God will judge them . James is serving a
jail term in the United Kingdom.
" So it was not only James and if we
narrow it down to James alone then we
are actually underestimating the way
corruption fought back ."
Responding to a question , Ribadu said
the investigation of Ibori for fraud was
not personal .