The International Police Organisation, (INTERPOL)’s investigation has shown that every hour, hundreds of thousands of dollars are being laundered out of Nigeria across the world.
This disclosure was made in Abuja by the Interpol Vice President for Africa, Garba Umar, while declaring open a four-day training workshop for Nigerian law enforcement agencies at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Academy, Abuja, on Monday.
According to Umar, money-laundering across Africa and the entire world has assumed a monstrous dimension and Interpol has designed Silver Notices to combat the menace, saying, “Evidence has shown that every hour, hundreds of thousands of dollars are flowing out of Nigeria to the region and across the world, laundered before it reaches the pockets of criminals to enjoy the profits of their crimes, while the hardworking and honest Nigerians pay the price of crime
He further said, “With every successful laundering of criminal money, our country becomes more prone to crime. More drugs, more fraud, more corruption and more violence. Every time criminal money is successfully laundered, our financial institutions take an additional blow”.
He stressed that hard times awaited money launderers as the Silver Notices would make illicit funds more difficult to launder in any part of the world.
Speaking on the theme of the Workshop: ‘Strengthening Capacity and Coordination against Financial Crimes’, Umar pointed out that financial crimes had become transnational and law enforcement agencies needed regular training for their workforce to be ahead of fraudsters
He urged participants at the workshop to make it a duty to discuss and learn about transnational crimes affecting their regions, identify possible solutions through a review of policing capabilities to support the country, and facilitate direct and in-person interaction amongst law enforcement networks across the country.
In essence, this workshop will allow us to re-examine the challenges of fighting transnational crimes in the country, reassess our strategies, and reaffirm our determination and unity as a country to provide security to our citizens and by extension the global community”, he further said.
Umar charged all participants at the workshop to take collaboration with other law enforcement agencies seriously, to advance their investigations and ensure that criminals do not get to enjoy the fruits of their labour
Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, in his goodwill message, also harped on the need for enhanced collaboration in tackling financial crimes.
He particularly stressed that the complex nature of corruption across the world could only be broken by the might of collaborative actions by every stakeholder.
Olukoyede, who spoke through the Director, Fraud Risk Assessment and Control of the EFCC, Francis Usani, appraised the pivotal role of the EFCC in tackling corrupt practices, especially its impressive records of convictions and recoveries, and expressed optimism that with the new emphasis on the preventive framework in tackling financial crimes by the commission, greater progress would be made.
Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Hafsat Bakare, spoke about the imperative of strengthening capacity and coordination against financial crimes, pointing out that “ financial intelligence and financial analysis techniques are key to tackling economic crimes”.
She expressed optimism that the training law enforcement officers would receive at the Workshop would “ sustain efforts being made to ensure that Nigeria exits the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force possibly by mid-2025.”
The four-day workshop, the first of its kind and hosted by the EFCC was organised by INTERPOL and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
It drew participants from the Police, EFCC, NFIU, Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Nigeria Customs Service.
