The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission has urged Nigerians to be wary of fake invitations purportedly emanating from the commission.
The Chairman of the commission, Ekpo Nta, made the call in Abuja on Thursday when a delegation from the Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria, led by Pattison Boleigha, visited the commission.
Nta said Nigerians should disregard any invitation either through letters or text messages outside designated offices of the commission across the country.
The chairman said ICPC had discovered that most of the invitation letters emanated from fraudsters.
He said: “This morning, I had an interesting incident, which I want to use this medium to let the world know about.
“I got information of one of such letters sent to the Vice-Chancellor, Benue State University of Agriculture, inviting him to ICPC in a very awkward manner.
“Sometimes, eminent Nigerians who receive such letters begin to panic and call numbers on the letter to get the matter sorted out.
“If you know you do not have any skeleton in your cardboard, you will not meet any person outside the designated offices of the ICPC.”
Nta, therefore, advised members of the CCCOBIN to be wary of such invitations, adding that the banking sector had always been a major target of such scam.
He said: “Our invitations are very specific and if you have issues, ensure that you call our investigation department.”
The ICPC boss, who pledged the commitment of the commission to partner with the committee to ensure compliance to banking regulations, also commended the Central Bank of Nigeria for its Bank Verification Number initiative.
In his remark, Boleigha said the visit was in recognition of ICPC’s role in ensuring compliance to banking regulations in the country.
He said: “We have come to have a discussion with you because of our roles as chief compliance officers of banks.
“Our coming is also in recognition of the fact that banks are the major financial institutions through which proceeds of crimes pass through.
“We know that we cannot do it alone.
“We must work with our stakeholders and we have considered the ICPC as a major stakeholder in the fight against crime and criminality.”
NAN.