A ‘large’ number of prominent Nigerians and institutions alleged to be involved in financing terrorism in the country are being profiled for prosecution.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami disclosed this on May 7 while addressing journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The minister did not name the concerned high profile Nigerians, although he noted that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that they were sponsoring terror activities in the country.
Also, Malami did not specify the number of individuals involved, but he stated that “a lot of Nigerians, high profile, institutional and otherwise, are involved in terrorism financing and they are being profiled for prosecution.”
Recently, a number of Nigerians were convicted for financing terrorism in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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Also, there were reports that some bureau de change operators in Nigeria were arrested for their alleged role in financing terrorism.
Malami linked the discovery of the involvement of the unnamed ‘high profile’ Nigerians in terror financing to the UAE convictions.
“Sometimes back, there were certain convictions of Nigerians allegedly involved in terrorism financing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). That gave rise to wider and far-reaching investigations in Nigeria and I am happy to report that arriving from the wider coverage investigation that has been conducted in Nigeria, a number of people, both institutional and otherwise, were found to be culpable,” he said.
“Reasonable grounds for suspicion of terrorism financing have been established, or perhaps have been proven to be in existence in respect of the transactions of certain higher profile individuals and businessmen across the country,” the minister added.
Investigations into the matter have reached an advanced stage, according to Malami.
The Nigerian government is initiating processes for the planned prosecutions, Malami further disclosed.
The minister was asked to state the number of people that had been arrested as part of the investigations.
He said, “As to the number, investigation is ongoing and it has to be conclusive before one can arrive at a certain number, but one thing I can tell you is, it is a large number and they are being profiled for prosecution.”
But he explained that he would not be able to provide the exact number of persons involved because the profiling and investigation had not been concluded.
The AGF vowed that “nobody would be spared, and no stone left unturned,” in the campaign against terror financiers.