JamzNG Latest News, Gist, Entertainment in Nigeria
In a significant encouragement to Nigeria’s efforts to fight terrorism and financial supporters, the Federal government has announced that more than 730 people have been convicted of violations related to terrorism, marking a milestone in the counselor and enforcement of the country’s financial crimes.
This was revealed by Major General Adamu Laka, the National Coordinator of the National Terrorism Center (NCTC), during a meeting at a place with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Abuja on Monday.
According to Laka, the important part of the Nigerian counterterrorism strategy is a systematic disorder of financial flow that maintains terrorist operations.
“Interrupting the financial lives of terrorist organizations is the center of our national counterterrorism strategy,” he said.
He noted that more than 90 sentences were directly supported by intelligence and data provided by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIUU), highlighting the impact of inter-institutional cooperation.
“Our ability to demand more than 730 cases related to terrorism is evidence of the effectiveness of our coordinated national approach. More than 90 punishments are secured by support from NFIUU,” Laka added.
He also praised the synergy between NFIU and other national financial security and enforcement agencies, praising their collaboration with a significant reduction in the flow of illegal funds to the terror network operating in Nigeria.
Praising the Joint Standards Investigation Committee on Terrorism Financing, Laka describes the work of the committee as “important” of the country’s capacity to investigate and demand complex cases involving financial crimes.
Also read: NGX: Equity Market Starts Sunday with Gain N152Tr
He noted that the new simulation exercise was carried out to test Nigeria’s institutional readiness ahead of the important FATF evaluation, which would determine whether Nigeria could get out of the “gray list” fatf.
“The strength of our collective preparation will determine the success of FATF visits that will come and, in the end, the transfer of Nigeria from the Gray Fatf list,” he said.
Also speaking at the meeting, NFIUU executive chief, Hajiya Hafsat Bakari, expressed his belief in Nigeria’s performance so far in implementing FATF action plans.
“Impressive progress has been made to complete all 19 action items on our action plan through collective national efforts,” he said.
Bakari noted that the fatf exercise at the place of offering Nigeria was the opportunity to show not only technical progress made, but also its long -term dedication for a strong financial crime prevention framework.
“The importance of this assessment is underlined by the size of the team coming to Nigeria. We will host 11 reviewers that include all direct results in our action plan.
“And remembering the difficulties previously owned by Fatf in finding reviewers to come to several countries in Africa, this is indeed a sign of trust in Nigeria.”
He also announced a symbolic victory for Nigeria on the global stage:
“I am also happy to tell you that, as a recognition of the extraordinary work we have done and our regional and global leadership, FATF has invited Nigeria to join his guest members.
“This basically means that Nigeria will participate under our own banner in FATF discussions and projects.
“Even though this does not mean that membership is full, still further steps on our journey to sit on the table and reiterate that we are on the right track.”
This meeting marks an important step to restore global confidence in the Nigerian financial system, because the country is trying to get out of the list of gray Fatf and play a stronger role in efforts to finance anti-washing and global terrorism.
