CSOs To EFCC: Name Those Laundering Money For Terrorists

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to disclose the identity of the religious sect that is laundering money for terrorists.

The CSOs said if the EFCC had done its investigation and identified the religious sect, then there was no need to hide its identity.

LEADERSHIP reports that during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the attorney general of the federation and the minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, had announced that the government will release the names of influential Nigerians sponsoring terrorists.

However, it never named the terrorists’ sponsors despite the terrorist activities expanding.

There have been recent calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to name the sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria, with the allegations that a former chief of army staff, Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, was eliminated because of his stand against terrorists and their sponsors.

On Wednesday last week, the chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, said the agency had uncovered a religious sect in the country that laundered money for terrorists.

This comment by the EFCC boss has brought a lot of reactions in the country, with the CSOs saying that the identities of such groups and their sponsors should be exposed.

The CSOs who spoke to LEADERSHIP are: Transparency International (TI), the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG).

Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, the CSOs said that since Nigerians have been calling for the naming and prosecution of terrorists’ sponsors, the EFCC should name the religious sect that is laundering money for terrorists.

“We have been calling on the government not to hide the names of people sponsoring terrorism in Nigeria. Making statements without solutions is not good.

“The EFCC has done their investigations concerning the religious sect that is laundering money for the terrorists. The commission should name it,” Rafsanjani said.

According to him, the issue of terrorism and terrorists’ sponsors should not be taken lightly, insisting that terrorists’ sponsors must be named.

“If the fight against terrorism must succeed, terrorists’ sponsors must be named and prosecuted. The EFCC should make the religious sect that is laundering money for the terrorists,” the CSOs added.