The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has disputed ECOWAS body’s report alleging that N18 billion ISWAP Funds was laundered through Nigeria’s formal financial system as untrue.
NFIU said the story is “totally outdated and was based on a 2019 country evaluation report which is literally stale and irrelevant today”.
A statement Monday by NFIU’s Chief Media Analyst, Ahmed Dikko said that Nigerias counter terrorists financing efforts have practically moved forward since then.
“It is to the knowledge of the international community, our populace and the formal media organisations that several arrests were made through the on going Operation Service Wide approved by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). The exercise is continuing and far from over”.
In addition, the statement said, 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.
NFIU said the ECOWAS body released its report to justify putting Nigerias Financial System under enhanced review process along side 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 counter measures against local and cross border violent crimes disturbing the entire West Africa presently.
“All our neighbours have proof of our exchange of terrorist financial intelligence with them real time,” the NFIU statement said.