Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola, says the federal government has identified 100 high-risk financiers of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
Aregbesola made the disclosure at the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing, held in India. The theme of the conference was “No Money for Terror”.
Aide to the minister, Abdulmalik Suleiman, in a statement yesterday, said: “The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, has played a significant role, in supporting all our intelligence, security, and military services.
” .. In 2019, the NFIU commenced an in-depth analysis of the financing of the Boko Haram group.
”This analysis, which took almost 18 months to complete, resulted in the identification of almost 100 high-risk financiers and identified links to 10 different countries.
“The NFIU was able to build a thorough picture of the transnational sources of the group’s finance, using intelligence from several countries, including our immediate neighbours, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Togo.
”Ultimately, the results of the analysis resulted in the arrest of 48 of the financiers and the ongoing prosecution of a number of them.”
The minister seized the event to canvass a four-point demand for improved well being of Nigerians living in India; and a change in Indian visa policy for Nigerian students; to grant special visa for Nigerian businessmen to facilitate trade between the two nations and; as a matter of urgency, reciprocate Visa on Arrival policy for Nigerians visiting India.
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