The International Police Organization (INTERPOL), on Monday, revealed that “hundreds of thousands of dollars” are being laundered out of Nigeria to other African countries and across the world, every hour of the day.
The organization, therefore, raised the alarm that money laundering across Africa and the entire world has assumed a monstrous dimension. It added that it would require a concerted efforts of every security agencies in Nigeria and other countries to address the menace.
This was disclosed by INTERPOL Vice President for Africa, Garba Baba Umar, at FCC Academy, Abuja.
Umar made the disclosure while declaring the 4-day workshop for Nigerian law enforcement agencies open.
He stated that INTERPOL has launched what he described as “Silver Notices Against Money Laundering”.
Umar pointed that the bid was to frontally tackle the scourge of money laundering and illicit financial flows across the world, especially Africa.
He said, “Evidence has shown that every hour, Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars are flowing out of Nigeria to other the regions and across the world. It is 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.
“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.”
Umar, however, stressed that hard times await money launderers as the Initiative “Silver Notices” would make illicit funds more difficult to launder in any part of the world.
The Vice President revealed this while speaking on the theme of the workshop: “Strengthening Capacity and Coordination against Financial Crimes”.
He noted that financial crimes had become transnational. And therefore, law enforcement agencies needed regular training for their workforce to be ahead of fraudsters.
“In essence, this Workshop will give us the opportunity to re-examine the challenges of fighting transnational crimes in the country. To reassess our strategies, and reaffirm our determination and unity as a country. And to provide security to our citizens and by extension the global community,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, stated the need for enhanced collaboration in tackling financial crimes.
Represented by the Director, Fraud Risk Assessment and Control of the EFCC, Francis Usani, Olukoyede said the complex nature of corruption across the world could only be broken by the might of collaborative actions by every stakeholder.
He said, “The daunting nature of the fight against corruption in Nigeria and the world at large deserve serious collaboration among organizations saddled with the responsibility of fighting corruption.”
In his remark, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Nigeria, Kazuyoshi Matsunaga, expressed delight at the workshop. He described it as an important joint initiative between Japan and Nigeria to combat financial crimes.
“In the contemporary globalized world, financial crimes transcended borders. And therefore, required international cooperation among law enforcement agencies to combat them,” he said.
Speaking in the same light, the Director-General of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Hafsat Bakare, stated the importance of coordination. He spoke about the imperative of strengthening capacity and coordination against financial crimes.
Bakare noted that “financial intelligence and financial analysis techniques are key to tackling economic crimes.”
The DG pointed that NFIU was sensitive to the interconnected nature of the criminal justice system. She also acknowledged the threat of organized crime and cybercrimes being fought by law enforcement agencies.
source: Daily Trust
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