Recall that 276 girls from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, were kidnapped on April 14, 2014.
Following the event, 57 of the schoolgirls jumped from the vehicles carrying them, and the Nigerian Armed Forces also occasionally saved additional students from these bandits.
According to the report given, it was clearly stated that about 82,000 Boko Haram fighters surrendered, out of these 82,000 about 16,000 were active male Fighters, 24,000 were women while 41,161 were children, 11 Chibok Girls were found, and all of them with children.
These Boko haram fighters were transferred to the Giwa project in Kanji, Niger state for prosecution. 323 detainees were transferred to Operation Safe Corridor for radicalization demobilization and rehabilitation.
However, according to a recent report from the Federal Government, banks, financial technology companies, and point-of-sale terminal operators from abroad have been connected to the financing of terrorism in the nation.
It listed the NGOs that were impacted, including those that carried out humanitarian work, and provided services, and activities related to religion while operating in terror-prone areas.
The 2022 National Inherent Risk Assessment of Terrorism Financing in Nigeria report included these. The research evaluated the nation’s exposure to the hazards of terrorism financing.
According to the report, security agency investigations have shown ongoing interactions between financial institutions, bureau de change, fintech companies, and designated non-financial businesses and professions and terrorist actors’ use of cash.
The assessment obtained relied on data from intelligence, security, and law enforcement agencies, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Department of State Services, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and various regulatory and supervisory agencies.
Other contributors to the report include the Corporate Affairs Commission, Defence Intelligence Agency, Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Extractive Industries Initiative, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Office of the National Security Adviser and the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering.
Investigations, according to the statement, showed that current account products tied to BDCs and NGOs’ business clients were linked to terrorism financing activities.
The transportation of significant amounts of cash via high-risk areas, the use of unauthorized forex brokers to swap currencies, and the employment of several vendors by NGOs are all examples of financial system abuse, according to the authorities.
The report’s overall conclusion was that NGOs in Nigeria pose a high inherent TF risk.
The assessment stated, “The findings of this report indicate that TF in Nigeria is generally associated with the use of cash. This notwithstanding, field information flowing from law enforcement investigation as well as financial data have revealed constant interactions between the use of cash by terrorist actors and financial institutions, Bureau de Change, fintech firms and Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions.
‘’The inherent vulnerabilities of each sector were assessed by the extent to which products and services offered are found in domestic investigations or STRs in relation to TF. Current accounts products associated with Bureau De Change and NPOs/NGOs corporate customers have been observed to be connected with TF activities.
‘’The use of bank accounts in the movement of TF funds has featured prominently in both intelligence and investigations related to TF.
“Financial data have also shown that the illegal currency exchangers comingle transactions in their personal accounts as well as entity accounts held and controlled by them with that of their BDC activities.’’
In a particular investigation, the FG disclosed that almost all the individuals profiled on suspicion of having links to TF, maintain at least one bank account.
It noted that illegal currency exchangers primarily conduct their financial transactions through bank accounts.
The report further affirmed that the number of individuals engaged in illegal currency exchange business is very high as revealed by a recent TF investigation involving a large number of exchangers.
The government noted that a larger percentage of transactions linked to terrorist financing was initially carried out in cash which was sourced from both legitimate and illegitimate activities.
‘’However, cash collected is usually placed into the financial system directly through bank deposits and indirectly through POS transactions and transactions with DNFBPs,’’ it said.
Investigations by security agencies had also indicted 19 firms linked with illegal money exchangers considered to be connected to terrorism financing.
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