Anti-graft officers get 5 years in jail over $600 bribe in oil-rich but impoverished Nigeria

LAGOS, Nigeria – Nigeria's anti-graft agency says two former employees have been jailed over a $600 bribe.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said in a statement Friday that Douglas William and Abba Ishaku were convicted Thursday and sentenced to five years in jail for demanding and attempting to take a bribe of about $600.

The statement said the two officers were charged in 2010 after colleagues set them up and arrested them.

It said the two men demanded the bribe from a politician facing allegations of embezzling public funds.

Nigeria has a long history of corruption in all areas of life. Despite the country's oil resources, most in the West African nation live on less than $2 a day.

The anti-graft body has said it is investigating about 1,500 cases.