By Christopher Oji
Stakeholders in security have called on Nigerians to unite to tackle the menace of financial crimes in the country which they described as national embarrassment.
The Stakeholders, who were speaking at the annual lecture and award ceremony of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) , last Thursday,at Providence Hotel Lagos, unanimously agreed that financial crimes have become a national embarrassment that must be tackled with every resources available.
According to them, parents now encourage their children to go into the crimes , while the public see the crimes as normal business.
Former Inspector- General of Police (IGP),and Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Solomon Arase, called on security agencies to close ranks in order to tackle the endemic financial crime that is threatening the economy of the nation.
Arase, who also queried the institutional capacity of the national security and intelligence community to professionally detect, prevent and deploy modern investigative tools towards dissecting the criminal signatures of fraudsters, noted that attainment of an enhanced technical, intellectual and professional capacity is needed to understand the complex trails of financial crimes
Arase, however ,stressed the need for security agencies to equip themselves with requisite capacity that will enable them identify pieces of technically-aided evidence of prosecutorial value that could engender the successful prosecution of the criminals.
Arase , who was represented by Assistant Inspector General of Police Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID), Lagos annex, AIG Idowu Owohunwa, said:” The questions here, however, are:Do the national security and intelligence community have the institutional capacity to professionally detect, prevent, and deploy modern investigative tools towards dissecting the criminal signatures of these fraudsters, and identifying pieces of technically-aided evidence of prosecutorial value that could engender the successful prosecution of the criminals?
“Have the nation’s security institutions built strong inter-agency synergy that could stimulate a coordinated and symbiotic approach in dealing with this threat including maximizing the tools of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU)?
In order to strengthening financial crimes safeguards and fraud alarm system, particularly, by corporate players and public agencies, Dr. Arase called for pathways to bridging the capacity gap of the security agencies in relation to understanding the complex dynamics and highly technical field of financial crimes.
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He also suggested closing the capacity gap of security agencies in unraveling the constantly advancing modus operandi, trends, and patterns of financial crime networks towards bringing them to deserved justice amongst others.
On his own,the guest lecturer, Dr. Bone Efoziem, said financial crime in Nigeria has become endemic, advising that the young ones should re-channel their energy to hard work.
Presenting a paper on Financial Crimes and National Security, Efoziem, said, though the situation in Nigeria is not as bad as being portrayed to the outside world on the social media, but there should be a collective efforts in addressing the security situation in the country.
“The situation in Nigeria is not as bad as being portrail to the outside world on social media. I believe that the abuse on social media should be looked into.
“There should be a collective efforts in addressing the security situation in the country. It must be noted that all crimes and criminality are local” he added.
Speaking further, Efoziem, who is the Managing Director, Strict Guard Security Limited ,advised every Nigerian to be ready to support security agencies by providing information since the operatives are not magicians.
Earlier, in his welcome remarks, the President of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN), Mr. Lekan Olabulo, frowned at the rate at which crime is increasingly committed in public and private space, insisting that the act is now becoming a thing of embarrassment to the nation.
Olabulo, who lampooned corrupt public office holders, noted that those involved in syphoning the common wealth of the nation should remember that they are not insulated from being probed.
The President of CRAN, disclosed that the annual lecture and award series, which he said started about 30 years ago, has become a veritable platforms through which suggestions are made on how best relevant agencies and other stakeholders could tackle the menace of insecurity, bedeviling the nation.
“ Outside the corridor of governance, many Nigerians particularly the youths are engaged in financial crimes such as internet fraud commonly referred to as Yahoo, Yahoo and other illicit financial businesses
“ Inspite of the existence of laws to check crime in Nigeria, more youths are enlisting in the Yahoo Yahoo business with such conviction that what they are doing is illegal.
“Yahoo, Yahoo or cybercrime has come to be generally accepted by most parents as if it is a legitimate business and many communities are now in competition over the number of youths who have acquired humongous wealth through Yahoo, Yahoo”, CRAN President beamoned.
Olabulo hinted that the annual lecture cum.award series started about 30 years ago has become veritable platforms through which suggestions are made on how best the relevant agencies and other stakeholders could tackle the menace of insecurity, bedevilling the nation.