National News
Insecurity: Nigeria’s security agencies need to modernize, insists Aregbesola
Insecurity: Nigeria’s security agencies need to modernize, insists Aregbesola
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has lamented that criminals operating in the country are modernized whereas the state nation’s security agencies are archaic in their operations.
Speaking at the opening of a 3-day anti-money laundering and combating terrorism capacity building for the Ministry of Interior and its agencies in Abuja, Aregbesola said: “We must upgrade our strategies,” noting that the criminals are in the 22nd century in evolvement of crimes while the nation’s security agencies are in the 18th century of crime fighting.
He said time has come for the government to build the capacities of the law enforcement agencies in the country to be able to continually combat the threats of criminal elements and secure the nation.
The Minister lamented that the insecurity as a result of rise in terrorism and banditry in the country can be traced to the availability of illicit fund gotten from money laundering, which mean that to put a nail to these, battle should be wage and won against money laundering,
He said: “It is in the light of this, that the Ministry and its Agencies, in conjunction with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, is conducting this workshop, as part of a series of measures to build capacity and effective communication networks among policy, regulatory and law enforcement agencies, in order to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism regime in the country.”
He added that: “In this regard, the Ministry, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and indeed the Nigerian Correctional Service all have key roles to play in efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Our target is to ensure that relevant Services in the Ministry develop a cadre of professionals in AML/CFT.”
He said: “Experience has shown that these funds are also used to undermine economic, social and political stability through funding of terrorism and terrorist related activities.
“As terrorism, banditry and other serious cross border crimes continue to proliferate, law enforcement agencies and regulators must work together to prevent, identify, punish and deter financial crimes.”
Aregbesola lamented that: “Over the past decade, Nigeria has increasingly been confronted with the violent and disruptive activities of terrorists. As a result, our laws and policies have been targeted not only to decimate the terrorists, but to target their sources of funding. We are all too aware that risks posed by money laundering on the financial system are constantly evolving.
“It is therefore necessary to continue to take appropriate measures to enhance the capacities of our law enforcement agencies for high profile investigation and diligent prosecution, in order to meet global standards for protecting the integrity of our financial system and prevent it from being used as a safe haven for the movement of illicit funds,” he said.
The Minister said: “Furthermore, as a responsible member of the comity of Nations, Nigeria is committed to meeting the global standards for the integrity of the financial system and prevent it from being used as a safe haven for the movement of illicit funds. Nigeria is also under obligation to comply with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Inter Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, (GIABA) on strengthening her AML/CFT regime.
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Nigeria recently went through a 2nd round Mutual Evaluation of its AML/CFT framework, and its effectiveness, which was carried out by GIABA. While noting that we have made significant progress, Nigeria’s AML/CFT regime was observed to be deficient in many areas in the final Report.”
He said: “This workshop has become imperative as one of the measures of developing and enhancing our collective capacities to more effectively tackle money laundering and terrorist financing in Nigeria. As you may all be aware, criminals use various techniques and mechanism to obscure the ownership of illicitly acquired assets and; introducing illegally obtained funds into the stream of legitimate commerce allows criminals to profit from their illegal activities, taints the financial system and erodes public trust in the integrity of the system.”
Also speaking, the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Audi said the crime of money Laundering and terrorism financing is an organised one which may be nurtured by the proceeds of illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism.
He said the Corps has expanded its scope of investigative activities to include tracking the movements of proceeds of illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism by thoroughly profiling the suspects and their accounts in order to establish whether funds realised from vandalism is laundered or used in financing terrorism.
He revealed that: “This improvement in our Intelligence and Investigation activities is further enhanced by the introduction of Crime Report Investigation Management System (CRIMS) by Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). More cases are now being seamlessly thrashed with the aid of the innovation.”
On his part the Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa said a strong economy is a source of national strength hence, any activity which directly or indirectly plunders the national resources of a nation, puts such a nation on a horrific path, leading to humanitarian crises.
The Controller General, who was represented by Controller of Corrections, Meg Okpala said: “It is quite unfortunate that our dear nation has suffered monumental losses that have even threatened the very essence of our collective existence. More disturbing is the fact that a larger percentage of these losses are attributable to the unpatriotic activities of money launderers and terrorism financiers.”
Insecurity: Nigeria’s security agencies need to modernize, insists Aregbesola
NAN, AWALCO Partners to Promote ECOWAS Parliament
By: Michael Mike
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has pledged to partner the Association of West African Legislative Correspondents (AWALCO) to publicise the activities of the ECOWAS Parliament, particularly its 25th anniversary celebrations.
The Managing Director of the agency, Malam Ali Muhammad Ali,, made the pledge when the leadership of the association paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Thursday.
Ali while expressing appreciation to the association’s officials for deeming it worthy to pay him a courtesy visit, said as Africa’s biggest news content provider, NAN was home to all.
He said: “For deeming it worthy to come and pay us this courtesy call, the agency is appreciative.
“We hope that it will help the Parliament achieve its goals, and raise awareness, like you said, about its activities.
“On our part, the News Agency of Nigeria, like you know, is Africa’s biggest news content provider.”
He noted that the agency is the most authentic and biggest news hub in Africa, with a domineering influence and reach within the West African subregion.
Ali said: “So, with an association like this, certainly in the News Agency of Nigeria, you find a soulmate, a fellow traveler. You are welcome. We look forward to partnering and doing more, and the News Agency of Nigeria is your home.”
Speaking earlier, AWALCO President, Mr Innocent Odoh, explained that the purpose of the visit was to seek the collaboration and support of NAN, as the indisputable leader in terms of news credibility reportage, and viability.
He said that ECOWAS Parliament would be marking its 25th anniversary on November 16 and a series of activities had been lined up for it.
Odoh said that AWALCO, being the association of the parliament’s press corps, was fully involved in it by way of planning to give the occasion a media and publicity glitz.
He said this would help to propagate the ideals of ECOWAS in general, and ECOWAS Parliament in particular, and make the objectives of ECOWAS Commission and Parliament known globally, starting from the subregion.
He said: “In terms of viability, if we talk about the repository of news in all ramifications, in all dimensions, I think the News Agency of Nigeria comes first before any other one.
“So, what we are doing is in line with the media advocacy that we are projecting for the ECOWAS Parliament at 25.
“We can see that if the collaboration with NAN takes off as we planned it, I think it will go a long way in expanding the vision of the association.”
The AWALCO president further said that the partnership would determine how the regional bloc is run, especially at a time that so many things about ECOWAS needed to be interrogated.
“That is why we’re here, to seek that collaboration, to seek that support, how we can deepen that collaboration to ensure that the citizens of the Parliament understand what is happening around them.
“ECOWAS has a vision of 2050 but many people may not be aware of it, but collaborations like this can open up an opportunity for people to understand the vision of ECOWAS,” he added
on her part, Chief Communication Officer, ECOWAS Parliament, Mrs Uche Duru,, who was part of the delegation, in a remark, extended greetings from ECOWAS Parliament Speaker and Secretary-General to Ali and NAN’s management.
The spokesperson for the parliament said the association was beyond Nigeria, as its membership encompassed the entire West Africa, including even from member states that were threatening to exit or had already exited.
NAN, AWALCO Partners to Promote ECOWAS Parliament
National News
Nigeria, China May Head for Diplomatic Row Over Shooting of Immigration Officer at Chinese Firm
Nigeria, China May Head for Diplomatic Row Over Shooting of Immigration Officer at Chinese Firm
By: Michael Mike
Nigeria is not taking lightly the shooting of an immigration officer at a Chinese firm in Jos, Plateau State.
The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who narrated the story,
The federal government has threatened a serious diplomatic row with the Republic of China over maltreatment of a Nigerian Immigration Service officer shot by a Chinese company in Nigeria for asking for the company’s expatriate list.
Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who narrated the story on Thursday in Abuja at a stakeholders sensitisation workshop on the implementation of the Nigeria Visa policy 2025, said Nigeria is not handling the matter with kid gloves as it would be taken up as a diplomatic issue.
Tunji-Ojo lamented that the development alone is an attack on Nigeria. It will never be condoned.
He said the Immigration officer, who was on official duty, had visited the Chinese company in Jos, Plateau state, to check the list of the company’s expatriates, but the owner of the company ordered a security officer in the premises to shoot the government official.
Tunji-Ojo said: “I won’t go to China as a Nigerian, open a company and tell my security to shoot a government official in uniform. It’s never done anywhere in the world.
“These officers put their lives on the line. These officers serve this country with their all. And you will not come from anywhere and ask them to shoot them in their fatherland.
“It will no longer happen. We will take it up with you. Because that company, we (Nigerian government) have the power to withdraw their business permit Nigeria and declare them illegal.”
He wondered how it had become an offence for an Immigration officer to visit a foreign company and demand to see their expatriate list.
He said: “It will not happen again. So we’re going to be very hard. We will not stop your business. We will not overburden your business. But don’t make us inferior in our own land. No, please.
“And we’re going to be very tough on this. Because talking to you, I’m not just talking with passion on this topic, I’m talking with a lot of anger, because that guy that was shot is a Nigeria that we all swore to protect by virtue of the laws of Nigeria, by the constitution. That Immigration guy was not shot by a terrorist, is a father, he is a son to somebody. He is a husband to somebody. That cannot happen anywhere in the world.
“We will not tolerate it. Please, no agent, no company is above the law,” the Minister declared
Nigeria, China May Head for Diplomatic Row Over Shooting of Immigration Officer at Chinese Firm
Nigeria Explores CNG Technology to Power Defence, Industrial Vehicle Fleets
By: Michael Mike
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar has led a high-level delegation on a tour of UROVESA—a renowned Spanish manufacturer of military and industrial vehicles.
The visit focused on exploring potential collaboration in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technology for powering Nigeria’s defence and industrial vehicle fleets.
The minister was accompanied on the visit by key figures including the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo; Presidential CNG Initiative representative, Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi; Engr. Henry Oki; and the Special Assistant for Gas Business and Investment to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), where they all engaged in detailed discussions with UROVESA executives.
During the visit, Tuggar emphasized the longstanding trade ties between Nigeria and Spain, noting that Spain remains one of Nigeria’s top trading partners, with Nigerian crude oil exports reaching $3.64 billion in 2023.
He lauded UROVESA’s innovative approach to producing all-terrain, armoured, tactical, and logistical vehicles, and expressed Nigeria’s growing interest in and implementation of CNG-powered solutions.
Tuggar also highlighted Nigeria’s business-friendly economic reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, which have positioned the country as a prime destination for investment in clean energy technologies. The discussions provided a valuable platform for further exploration of future collaborations between UROVESA and Nigeria’s Ministry of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) in CNG-powered vehicle production and supply.
According to a statement by the foreign affairs minister spokesman, Alkasim AbdulKadir, the engagement not only reinforced Nigeria’s commitment to a green energy future but also laid the groundwork for modernizing the nation’s defence and industrial fleets with environmentally friendly and cost-effective energy solutions.
He said the promising outcome of the discussions sets the stage for a strategic partnership that is expected to foster sustainable innovation and drive economic growth for both Nigeria and UROVESA.
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