Nigerian govt identifies 100 high-risk terrorist financiers

The Federal Government has revealed that 100 high-risk financiers of terrorism have been identified in its fight against the menace.

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, made this disclosure recently at the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing themed “No Money for Terror” which took place in India.

He further noted that these financiers had links to at least 10 different countries of the world.

Aregbesola was promoting the advantages of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in the battle against terrorism, according to a statement released by his aide Abdulmalik Suleiman on Sunday.

He said: “The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has played a significant role in supporting all our intelligence, security, and military services.

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“The unique ability of the NFIU to work with counterparts in the region and across the world, particularly through the framework of the Egmont Group of FIUs is a key asset for our country.

“In 2019 the NFIU commenced an in-depth analysis of the financing of the Boko Haram group.

“This analysis, which took almost 18 months to complete resulted in the identification of almost 100 high-risk financiers and identified links to 10 different countries.

“The NFIU was able to build a thorough picture of the transnational sources of the group’s finance using intelligence from several countries, including our immediate neighbours, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Togo.

“Ultimately, the results of the analysis resulted in the arrest of 48 of the financiers and the ongoing prosecution of a number of them.”

Aregbesola also advocated for enhanced welfare for Nigerians studying, working, or living in India.

For the betterment of Nigerians living in India, he submitted a four-point demand to the Indian government.

Aregbesola also pushed for changes to the Indian Visa Policy for Students from Nigeria.

“This is to allow Nigerian students have visa for study programs and not on six monthly basis which is burdensome in cost and time,” the statement added.

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