The Federal Government said it has begun profiling towards prosecution of a large number of well-placed Nigerians suspected of being financiers of terrorism in the country. Authorities said that the arrest of an undisclosed number of suspects recently came following the conviction of some Nigerians on terrorism financing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While addressing newsmen on Friday in Abuja, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami said that investigations conducted have established reasonable evidence of the involvement of the highly placed individuals, businessmen, and institutions across the country in financing the Boko Haram terrorists.
“As you will actually know, sometimes back there were certain convictions of Nigerians allegedly involved in terrorism financing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” he said in reaction to the extent of prosecution.
“That gave rise to wider and far-reaching investigations in Nigeria and I’m happy to report that arising from the wider coverage investigation that has been conducted in Nigeria, a number of people, both institutional and otherwise, were found to be culpable.
“I mean a reasonable ground for suspicion of terrorism financing has been established or perhaps has been proven to be in existence in respect of the transactions of certain higher-profile individuals and businessmen across the country.”
“I’m happy to report that investigation has been ongoing for a long and it has reached an advanced stage. Arriving from the investigation, there exists, certainly, reasonable grounds for suspicion that a lot of Nigerians, high-profile, institutional, and otherwise, are involved in terrorism financing and they are being profiled for prosecution.
“In essence, it is indeed true that the government is prosecuting and it’s indeed initiating processes of prosecuting those high-profile individuals that are found to be financing terrorism. It is indeed true.
However, Malami did not give the number of such suspects as he maintained that investigation was still ongoing until a conclusion is arrived at.
“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.
“It is indeed a large number and I’m not in a position to give you the precise number as of now because the profiling and investigation are ongoing.”
“The message is clear, nobody is going to be spared, no stone will be left unturned. We shall certainly and aggressively pursue those people that are involved in terrorist financing as far as the Nigerian state is concerned,” Malami added.
