By Adeleye Kunle
The Federal Government announced yesterday that it had conducted a major analytical operation aimed at identifying individuals who were funding the Boko Haram terrorist group and its affiliates in the country.
The government revealed this during the opening session of a five-day Compliance Summit organized by the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, GIABA, and said it had so far requested more information about the suspected terror financiers from 28 countries.
Mr. Mohammed Jiya, Director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, added that the government had received responses from countries such as Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, and Niger.
“The intelligence report submitted to the government led to the formation of an inter-agency operation, which resulted in the degrading of Boko Haram activities,” the NFIU chief said.
“I am pleased to inform this gathering that the Chad platform on terrorism financing was expanded to 11 countries last week, with active members Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, and Benin; and observers Ghana, Guinea, and Central African Republic.”
“Meetings with Chad Basin and Sahel countries will now take place every three months.” This new collaboration is beneficial to both experience sharing and the operational success of security agencies.”
He called the summit’s theme, “Current and Emerging Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Issues,” appropriate and timely, noting that three of the top ten countries in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index, GTI, were from West Africa.
It will be recalled that last September, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, insisted that investigations into those behind insurgent activities in the country had reached an advanced stage.
He stated that the government would reveal their identities at the appropriate time through a judicial process that would include prosecution.
“The current position is that the investigation has advanced to an advanced stage, and the government will make a statement in that regard in due course,” he said.
Mr. Aba Kimelabalou, Director-General of GIABA, praised Nigeria’s leadership role in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing in West Africa during his remarks at the summit.
He emphasized that recent steps taken by the country, such as the passage of three important pieces of legislation to address identified strategic deficiencies, demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment to the fight against illicit financial flows.
He stated that the organization adopted twelve mutual evaluation reports that revealed significant gaps, particularly in national cooperation and coordination, the supervisory regime, and the implementation of preventive measures by reporting institutions.
According to Mr. Kimelabalou, the gaps had a negative impact on the assessed countries’ performance, particularly their policies and coordination, preventive measures, legal persons and arrangements, beneficial ownership, and financial intelligence.
“The primary goal of this summit is to raise awareness about emerging money laundering and terrorist risks, as well as to provide a platform for participants to share experiences and foster cooperation and collaboration toward effective AML/CFT prevention measures,” he added.
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