The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) says that “thousands of dollars” are laundered out of Nigeria every hour.
Garba Umar, vice-president of Interpol (Africa), addressed on Monday at a session for law enforcement agencies at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) school in Abuja.
Umar said:
“Evidence has shown that every hour, hundreds of thousands of dollars are flowing out of Nigeria to the region (Africa) and across the world, 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 stated that Interpol will crack down on money launderers with the issue of ‘Silver Notices’, which will make it more difficult to launder illicit monies anywhere in the world.
He added that financial crimes are transnational, and law enforcement organisations require regular training to intercept fraudsters.
He stated that the workshop will allow security agents to re-examine the challenges of combating transnational crimes in the country, reassess their strategies, and “reaffirm our determination and unity as a country to provide security to our citizens and, by extension, the global community”.
Also speaking, Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the EFCC, stated that partnership is critical in combating financial crimes.
Olukoyede, who was represented by Francis Usani, the EFCC‘s director of fraud risk assessment and control, stated that the fight against corruption is complex and requires stakeholder assistance.
He said:
“The daunting nature of the fight against corruption in Nigeria and the world at large deserve serious collaboration among organisations saddled with the responsibility of fighting corruption.”