The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set up an Immigration Fraud Section in some of its Commands across the country to tackle immigration fraud and the accompanying reputational damage it is causing Nigeria.
EFCC chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, who disclosed this in Abuja while receiving a delegation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) led by its director general, Superintendent Rabhi Abdallah, said that the section was established barely two weeks ago, and the commission was motivated to set it up as a result of the stream of fraud taking place on immigration matters in the country and the need to protect Nigerians from the antics of immigration fraudsters
He said, “Apart from what we have done in the foreign exchange market, two weeks ago, we set up an Immigration Fraud Section.
They are in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, and all our zonal commands, where we have embassies because we have seen quite a lot of fraud in that area. They have scammed people a lot, so we want to devote our attention and resources to that area to ensure that Nigerians and diplomatic missions in Nigerian would not be victims of visa and immigration scams again.”
While explaining the rationale of his visit to the EFCC, Abdallah stated that the RCMP delegation was in Nigeria to explore ways of collaboration and partnership with the commission.
He raised hopes of deploying Canadian law enforcement officers in joint operations and investigations with the EFCC and to further team up with the commission in other ways that would benefit Nigeria and the West African region.
He said, “The department that I am in charge of in the RCMP is in partnership with government agencies, and that partnership comes with some funding and that funding has been utilised in the past 30 years to deploy Canadian law enforcement officers to various peace operations around the world, but now in more and more specialised more minor investigations in areas so that we can contribute to stability and make sure that we are providing some levels of support, when and where it is needed.
“On one end of the spectrum, we are helping support policing, and at the other end, we are working hand-in-hand with partners to advance investigations worldwide and contribute to stability and global security. So, as part of looking forward and looking for new nations to we can send Canadian law enforcement officers to help contribute to stability and advancing global security, I thought of the experiences that I have working with the EFCC in the past and that I might come and explore opportunities with a partner such as the EFCC.
“I want to pitch the idea and see how we can potentially collaborate. Our collaboration has been solid on the operations side, and we hope to enhance it by advancing what would be beneficial to Nigeria and the whole region.”
