Terminate Repentant Terrorists’ Rehabilitation, Reps Tell Executive

The House of Representatives has called on the Executive Arm of Government to terminate the rehabilitation and reintegration of terrorists, kidnappers and bandits into society.

It also urged the Federal Government to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of regulations relating to ransom payments and terrorism financing while promoting cooperation between victims, financial institutions, and law enforcement agencies.

The House further asked the Federal Ministry of Finance to provide adequate funding for financial intelligence infrastructure, including advanced transaction monitoring and analytical systems.

These resolutions followed the adoption of an amended motion moved by Hon. Ademorin Ali Kuye at plenary on Wednesday.

Moving the motion, Kuye noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), 2020 confer on the Central Bank of Nigeria regulatory and supervisory powers over monetary policy, currency management, and the integrity of the Nigerian financial system.

He recalled that the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act and Prohibition) Act, 2022 imposes obligations on financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and relevant government agencies to detect, report, and disrupt illicit financial flows, including ransom payments.

The lawmaker said reports from the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the National Bureau of Statistics’ Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024, and independent security research organisations indicate that Nigerians paid an estimated ₦2.23 trillion in ransom between January 2021 and June 2025.

This, he said, sustains kidnapping and other organised criminal activities in the country.

Kuye stated that,” investigations by the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) revealed that Point-of-Sale (POS) operators and other financial channels have been used to facilitate ransom payments and conceal financial trails, thereby frustrating recovery efforts and law enforcement investigations.”

He expressed concern that criminal and terrorist networks continue to exploit formal and informal financial systems, including Bureau De Change operators, hawala networks, cryptocurrency platforms, livestock transactions, and trade-based money laundering schemes to launder ransom proceeds and reintegrate them into the legitimate economy.

Kuye also expressed worry that, “weaknesses in financial intelligence coordination and anti-money laundering enforcement expose Nigeria to increased security threats, undermine public confidence, and heighten the risk of international sanctions and continued Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey-listing.”

Adopting the motion, the House urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and other relevant regulatory authorities to conduct a comprehensive audit of suspicious POS transactions in high-risk areas and take appropriate regulatory action against operators found to be involved in ransom-related activities.

It also asked the apex bank to strengthen real-time monitoring and reporting mechanisms for suspicious financial transactions linked to kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, and other organised crimes, while closely overseeing Bureau de Change operators and other financial intermediaries to prevent their use in money laundering and ransom payments.

The House urged the Attorney-General of the Federation and relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute individuals and entities involved in facilitating ransom transactions in In line with the existing laws, that’d be great.

The Green Chamber further urged the National Security Adviser to convene a stakeholders’ summit on financial intelligence and ransom financing with a view to developing a coordinated national strategy for disrupting criminal financial networks.

It equally urged security agencies to ensure that funds and assets recovered during anti-kidnapping and Counter-terrorism operations are subjected to proper forensic financial investigation to identify and dismantle criminal financing networks.