Says ‘Corruption obstacle to Nigeria’s development’
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, (SAN), yesterday, maintained that illegal gold mining was responsible for the ranging violent crimes in Zamfara State.
The ICPC boss, who spoke at the 4th Annual public awareness lecture series on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes in West Africa, said there are established linkages between economic crimes and crisis in the region.
He said the illegal mining of gold in Zamfara State by Nigerians and collaborators from the West African region and beyond, ‘had gone on for years unabated’.
Existing literature has established linkages between illegal natural resources exploitation and financing of arms conflict and promotion of organised crime, promotion of the drug trade and State capture, expansion of corruption and state capture, banditry/terrorism and kidnap for ransom, poverty, instability and lack of social safety net and modern slavery.
West Africa needs to pursue a multi-track strategy to surmount the daunting challenges posed by economic and financial crimes. The fortune of generations yet unborn relies on the actions that we take today, the ICPC Chairman added.
Meanwhile, earlier in his opening remarks at the event, the Director-General of Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, (GIABA), Justice Kimelabalou Aba, said there was a need for Nigeria to engage forensic examiners and auditors to help it to trace and recover proceeds of crime.
Justice Aba stressed that the primary mandate of GIABA was to, as an institution of ECOWAS, support its member states effectively to protect their economies from being misused and abused to launder the proceeds of crimes or finance terrorism in any form.
He said the aim of the lecture series, which was held at Nile University in Abuja, was to incorporate students that were drawn from various tertiary institutions in Nigeria, into the war against money laundering and terrorism financing.
The country needs forensic examiners and auditors that can help trace and recover proceeds of crime wherever they may be located in the world, he added.
