In a statement by its Chief Media Analyst, Ahmed Dikko, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, has denied reports by the Economic Community of West African States agency, that a terrorist organisation, the Islamic State West African Province, launders over ₦18 billion through Nigeria’s financial system annually.
The NFIU described the report as outdated as it is based on a 2019 country evaluation which the government agency describes as “stale and irrelevant today”. Adding that Nigeria’s counter-terrorism financing efforts “have practically moved forward since then.”
He said, “It is to the knowledge of the international community, our populace and the formal media organisations that several arrests were made through the ongoing Operation Service Wide approved by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Defence Intelligence Agency. The exercise is continuing and far from over.
“In addition, all funding of violence from all sections of the country are being evidently analysed and reported to all relevant authorities according to law.
“It’s true that recently Nigeria fell a victim of illicit financial flows but overt and far-reaching efforts are being executed by government to stem the bad practice.”
The agency further said that the ECOWAS body released its report to justify putting Nigeria’s financial system under an enhanced review process alongside other countries in the Sahel.
“We had formally faulted the report to the ECOWAS body while agreeing to partner with them to carry out further review processes to jointly attain global best practices on all countermeasures against local and cross border violent crimes disturbing entire West Africa presently.
“All our neighbours have proofs of our exchange of terrorist financial intelligence with them real-time,” the statement said.
The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering was established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to help prevent and control money laundering and terrorist financing in the region.
