A former police commissioner, Emmanuel Ojukwu, says Nigerian government officials have compromised the prosecution of terrorists in the country.
Mr. Ojukwu was speaking in the context of a disclosure by Information Minister Lai Mohammed, who said that the federal government had uncovered 96 terrorist financiers in the country.
On Channels Television’s late-night program Politics Today on Thursday, Ojukwu said the government’s lethargic willingness to prosecute terrorist financiers demonstrates how some top public officials “compromised” efforts to bring criminals to justice. He didn’t mention names.
Abubakar Malami [Source – The Guardian, Nigeria]The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had revealed for the umpteenth time that the government “was preparing suspects linked to the financing of terrorism to prosecute them, without any concrete action being observed”.
Mr. Ojukwu, who once served as a police spokesman at the Force’s headquarters in Abuja, lamented that the terrorists had caused enormous hardships for Nigerians.
He labeled unnamed public officials profiting from the security crises plaguing Nigeria as “disaster traders who have compromised” the prosecution of suspected Boko Haram backers.
“There’s a lot of engagement there,” Ojukwu said when asked by show host Seun Okinbaloye to comment on the Information Minister’s Thursday disclosure of Boko Haram financiers.
Questioning Ojukwu and his co-guest on the show, Mike Ejiofor, retired director of the State Security Service (SSS), the Channels Television journalist acknowledged that on three separate occasions, the Minister of Justice had promised to initiate criminal proceedings. against suspected terrorist financiers.
“We don’t need to hear the names; arrest them (those who finance terrorism), prosecute them and put them behind bars. That’s where they belong,” the retired police officer said.
“How can you allow the people who have caused so much hardship for Nigerians; suppressing us, killing our men and women, raping people, and you say we have their names? Why do you hide their names? Mr. Ojukwu asked.
He has consistently lamented the underfunding of the Nigerian police force, calling for better pay and equipment for its workforce.
Earlier, Mr. Mohammed had revealed during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) had uncovered 96 terrorist financiers, including 424 associates of the financiers.
But the minister, like his colleague, Malami, did not mention the names of the sponsors and companies identified in the alleged financing of terrorism.
NFIU analysis
“For its part, the analysis of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, in 2020-2021, revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria, 424 associates/sympathizers of the financiers, participation of some 123 companies and 33 exchange houses, in addition to identify 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven co-conspirators.
“On terrorist financing, NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, kidnapping and others with 19 countries. During the same period, 2020-2021, the organization returned fraudulently obtained funds totaling $103,722,102.83; £3,000; 7,695 Singapore dollars and 1,091 euros to 11 countries from victims who entered the country.
“The analysis resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and asset confiscation,” Mohammed said.