Daybreak, Politics, Entertainment, Sport

Tag: ISWAP

  • Police foil ISWAP attack on Magumeri

    Police foil ISWAP attack on Magumeri

    The Nigerian Police Force have successfully repelled an attack on Magumeri Town  in Borno State.

    It was gathered that scores of armed terrorists, suspected to be members of the, Isllamic State of the West African Province(ISWAP), faction, stormed a Divisional command of of Police in the town in a convoy of gun trucks and motorcycles at about 0035 a.m. 

    A Security Sources told Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency expert and Security Analyst in the LakeChad, that the attack triggered a fierce gun battle between the police men and the  terrorists which lasted until 1:30 am.

    The sources said that the Divisional Officer and his men vehemently  resisted and Foil the terrorists plan of overrunning them.
    They however, shot one Inspector Bitrus Umaru in the stomach and his right leg, one  hilux patrol vehicle was carted away while another gulf car belonging to a police personnel was set ablazed.

  • ISWAP and Boko Haram members Clash in Borno

    Many people have been feared dead after a violent fight broke out between members of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Thursday September 15.

    Daily Trust reported that the fight occurred between Dikwa and Bama local government areas of Borno state, and among those feared dead is one of the terrorist commanders simply identified as “Kundu” and dozens of fighters.

    A security source told the publication that Kundu and his team were on a robbery mission when the ISWAP intercepted them on six motorcycles, each conveying three fighters.

    Zagazola Makama, a security analyst and a counter insurgency in Lake Chad confirmed the fight.

    He said;

    “A heavy fight ensued between the terrorists resulting to dozens of casualties on the side of the Boko Haram terrorists, while few ISWAP terrorists were wounded.

    “The Boko Haram terrorists took to their heels leaving their motorcycles to the ISWAP terrorists.”

  • ISWAP Claims Responsibility For Kuje Prison Attack

    ISWAP Claims Responsibility For Kuje Prison Attack

    The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja.

    This was disclosed on Wednesday in a statement written in Arabic shared via A’maq Agency, a news channel run by the Islamic State.

    “Islamic State fighters penetrated the prison of the Nigerian government yesterday (Tuesday), in Kuje city, on the outskirts of the capital, Abuja, after demolishing its walls, and successfully liberated dozens of prisoners,” a translation of the statement read.

    Tuesday night appeared to be the appropriate time for armed non-state actors to strike in the nation’s capital as they invaded the correctional facility, freeing hundreds of inmates in the process.

    While authorities linked the attack to terrorists, a total of 64 Boko Haram fighters held at the centre for their roles in the insurgency in the North East were unaccounted for following the incident.

    Amid widespread criticism sparked by the incident, President Muhammadu Buhari visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.

    After being briefed on what transpired, the President expressed his disappointment with the intelligence at the facility with many questions, including how terrorists could attack a security installation and get away with it.

    A researcher who analyses ISWAP activities in sub-Saharan Africa, Tomasz Rolbecki, also linked the attack on the correctional facility to the terrorist group.

    “I wanted to believe it was not them (ISWAP), but here we are,” he said in a series of tweets while also quoting and sharing A’maq Agency’s video. “Watching the IS supporter groups right now, they are, as expected, absolutely ecstatic (sadly) and are using the same name as the campaign of prison breaks in Iraq in 2012-13 (the infamous “Breaking the Walls” campaign).

    “There is one question to answer – how did ISWAP manage to do it? From previous claims, the cells that could’ve been responsible (I’m talking about the one in Suleja and the one in Kogi) seemed very small and unable to do something at such a scale.”

  • No Evidence Has Linked Owo Church Attack To ISWAP – Fayemi

    No Evidence Has Linked Owo Church Attack To ISWAP – Fayemi

    Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has described the claims linking the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) to the church attack in Owo as mere speculation.

    He stressed that no evidence has confirmed that the terrorists were responsible for the attack which claimed many lives and left several others injured.

    “I am not going to go into any speculation,” the governor said on Monday in response to a question regarding the position of the Federal Government during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

    “As far as I’m concerned, the statement that ISWAP or Boko Haram or whatever other institutions are responsible for this (attack) is purely speculative at this stage. I haven’t seen any evidence that concretely puts this in the corner of any of these rogue elements that we have.

    “And really it doesn’t – at this stage – matter, they have committed this crime, they have demonstrated the capacity to cause maximum damage to our people.”

    At least 40 people were killed and many injured when gunmen opened fire on worshippers at St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

    The incident sparked widespread condemnation with various individuals and groups calling on the government to ensure the assailants were arrested and brought to justice.

    Amid controversy over who was responsible for the incident, the Federal Government linked the killings to the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP).

    Fayemi, who doubles as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), believes the position of the Federal Government is speculation.

    According to him, governors, as the chief security officers of their states, are privy to all manners of intelligence but not all of them are actionable.

    He explained that they have a responsibility to pass such intelligence to the relevant institutions who are expected to take necessary actions.

    “I don’t want us to jump the gun as far as this is concerned and that is why I am not going to go into any detail as to what intelligence we had and at what point we had it,” said Governor Fayemi.

    “Our duty as security officers is to ensure that this does not occur again and we go after elements of this nature, whichever organisation they may represent within our domains.”

  • ISWAP Responsible For Owo Church Attack – National Security Council

    ISWAP Responsible For Owo Church Attack – National Security Council

    The National security Council has blamed the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is responsible for the attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, that led to the death of about 38 persons on June 5.

    The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said this on Thursday while briefing State House Correspondents after the National Security Council meeting in Abuja.

    He disclosed that security agencies, particularly the police, have been directed to apprehend the perpetrators. The former governor said the attack has no ethnic-religious connection, affirming that the group’s activity has nothing to do with religion.

    The council, according to him, is also concerned about killings in the name of blasphemy and has directed the security agencies to go after perpetrators of the incidents that occurred in Sokoto State and Abuja recently.

    Similarly, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba equally noted the imprints of the perpetrators of the Owo killings have been identified and although no arrests have been made, security agencies are now zeroing in on them.

    The meeting, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, was held less than a week after scores of persons were killed in the attack and several others wounded.

    In a recent meeting, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State said 40 persons died in the incident while 26 survivors have been discharged from hospitals in the area.

    “The figure I have now shows that 127 persons were involved and that the number of death now is 40. On admission receiving treatment, we have 61. Twenty-six have been discharged,” he said on Wednesday when he hosted Catholic Bishops from the South-West led by Most Reverend Leke Abegunrin.

    “Those are the figures we have now from the Commissioner for Health. So, the government is not hiding anything.”

  • El-Rufai Raises Alarm Over Presence Of Boko Haram, ISWAP In Kaduna

    El-Rufai Raises Alarm Over Presence Of Boko Haram, ISWAP In Kaduna

    The Kaduna State Government has raised an alarm about the activities of terrorist groups in the State.

    Speaking during the presentation of the first quarter security report for 2022 to the state’s security council, Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said members of the Ansaru and Boko Haram terrorists groups have infiltrated some parts of Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government areas.

    Aruwan said the terrorists have been luring locals with gifts with a view to recruiting them into the criminal organisations.

    Governor Nasir El-Rufai expressed concern that the terrorists are moving from the North-East to the North-West with the intention of causing havoc.

    He added that those who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train were Boko Haram terrorists.

    The Governor is also worried that the conduct of the 2023 general elections might be compromised in Kaduna state if the security challenges are not addressed.

    Meanwhile, Aruwan said no fewer than 360 people have been killed by suspected terorrists in different parts of Kaduna State from January to April.

    Kaduna central senatorial zone recorded the highest casualties with 214 deaths, the Commissioner said.

    Aruwan further noted that 1,389 people were kidnapped by bandits in different attacks across Kaduna State during the period under review, including the 62 victims of the March 28 attack on a Abuja-Kaduna train.

  • Insecurity: ISWAP, Boko Haram Present in Seven Niger LGs, Says Commissioner

    Insecurity: ISWAP, Boko Haram Present in Seven Niger LGs, Says Commissioner

    The Niger State Government on Monday said that banditry and terrorism are festering in seven local governments of the state because of the involvement of men of the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP).

    The government also disclosed that men of the dreaded Boko Haram have now integrated into many communities around the state.

    These shocking revelations were made by the state Commissioner for Local Government and Internal Security, Mr Emmanuel Umar, when he delivered a lecture with the theme: “Insecurity in Niger State, The Way out” at a forum organized in Minna by the state Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

    Umar claimed that it has become very difficult for the security operatives to bring an end to banditry and terrorism because of the footprints of ISWAP and Boko Haram members.

    The commissioner also said that inadequate manpower, especially on the part of the police, has aggravated insecurity, adding that in some communities, there were only seven policemen, while policemen are non- existent in some other communities, as this is coupled with the difficult terrain of most parts of the state.

    Umar also said that since most of the rural dwellers keep their money at home, as banking activities are non-existent in their domain, the bandits always have a field day relieving them of their cash.

    According to him, despite the claim that ransoms are not being paid to the criminal elements, reports have shown that in one incident in Kagara town, N70 million was paid to the bandits even as not less than N500 million was lost to bandits in an attack on the cattle market in Mariga town of Mariga Local Government.

    Umar said Nigerians should be involved in the fight against banditry and terrorism in the state and country as a whole, pointing out that the security agencies need to be properly equipped and reinforced with additional manpower.

    In his contribution, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, debunked claims that seven local government areas are under bandits’ siege, saying the number of the councils affected are just five.

    Abiodun disclosed that the command has identified the bandits’ routes and deployed riot policemen to the areas.

    The PPRO agreed that the command is understaffed but said: “There are a lot of efforts being put in place to tackle this insecurity.”

    Abiodun disclosed that not less than 500 castle have been recovered from rustlers and returned to their owners.

  • Reprisal: Day after 25 terrorists are drown in river, ISWAP abducts 3 in Borno

    Reprisal: Day after 25 terrorists are drown in river, ISWAP abducts 3 in Borno

    A day after 25 Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, insurgents fleeing sustained aerial onslaughts by Nigerian military jets got drowned in a river within Lake Chad axis, the terrorists have abducted three persons, in what appears to be a retaliation ‘attack’ at Mandaragirau Village.

    Reports from Mandaragirau in Southern Borno indicates that they were abducted in the early hours of Saturday.

    The three young men abducted are Yamta Usman, Hamidu Adamu Chiroma and Mustapha Adamu Chiroma, also known as Lingi, PRNigeria learnt.

    PRNigeria yesterday reported that no fewer than 25 ISWAP terrorists fleeing air strikes of the military were drowned while attempting to cross a deep river within Lake Chad axis in the North East.

    It was gathered that six military fighter jets belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) ‘aggressively’ raided camps of the ISWAP elements, on Thursday evening.

    The camps, located at Bukar Mairam and Jibularam, served as warehouses for ISWAP insurgents’ ammunition and firearms.

    Concerning the attack at Mandaragirau village, a source, disclosed that, “We woke up to this shocker. The last time this kind of episode happened here was when they went to the market and pick someone. But that one we learnt that they suspected him to be an informant for the soldiers.

    ”For these young men, we are suspecting that the ISWAP may be out to take young men to forcefully conscript them into their ranks. ISWAP recently have been recruiting young men from villages around the southern Borno axis.”

    Another resident, however, noted that it was rather unbelievable to see happenings like this when the news making the round indicated that the military was dealing decisively with the ISWAP elements.

    ”If something like this will continue to happen in the face of the ongoing stories and promises, then we do not know who to trust or believe anymore. I was devastated to receive the message very early in the morning that ISWAP came to our village and took with them some young men.

    “This is sad. We have not received any news regarding why they were taken. We are all praying for them to return safely. But I am equally afraid of the happening especially these days with such reports of abduction and current recruitment by the ISWAP,” he said.

  • Don’t Allow ISWAP To Grow, Governor Zulum Tells FG

    Don’t Allow ISWAP To Grow, Governor Zulum Tells FG

    Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, expressed concerns over the increasing strength of the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP).

    The governor spoke on Thursday while briefing journalists on the state on internal security, relocation of IDPs and collaborations between the state and the federal government at the state house in Abuja.

    Zulum had in January warned that if nothing was done about the operations of ISWAP in Borno, “it may be bad not only for people of the north-east, but the entire nation at large”.

    Speaking on Thursday, he said the military needs to restrategize on how it will defeat ISWAP, adding that the group will wreak more havoc than Boko Haram did if it is allowed to grow.

    “I’ve said it before that the growing number of ISWAP in some parts of the state is a matter of great concern to everybody. Where? In the shores of the Lake Chad and in Southern Borno. Luckily, I was told there was military deployment to southern Borno yesterday to fight the insurgency. But I think this is an early warning system,” Zulum said.

    “We shouldn’t allow ISWAP to grow. ISWAP is more funded, sophisticated and educated, and we shall do everything possible to defeat ISWAP otherwise, what Boko Haram did will be child’s play.

    “The Nigerian Army has to restrategise and defeat ISWAP. ISWAP will be a threat to the entire nation because of the fragility of the south Saharan Africa.”

    The governor thanked the federal government for its support in helping to restore peace and normalcy in certain areas of the state.

    He listed the return of IDPs, reduction in number of bombing incidents, reopening of major markets and roads, provision of functioning healthcare facilities, improved access to education, as some of the feats recorded by his administration.

    Zulum said his statement on the state of two LGAs in Borno was misinterpreted.

    He clarified that he meant the LGAs “are not occupied by human population”, not that they are under Boko Haram.

    “It means the capacity is not there to protect the human population in these LGAs. We are not saying that these LGAs are under the control of Boko Haram. We need the support of the federal government to see to the relocation of people to these LGAs,” he said.

    He asked the federal government “to rethink and look into the possibility of hiring mercenaries”, saying there is nothing wrong in seeking external support.

  • FG Uncovers 96 Financiers Of Boko Haram, ISWAP

    FG Uncovers 96 Financiers Of Boko Haram, ISWAP

    The Federal Government says it has uncovered 96 financiers of terrorism across the country, especially those backing Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

    This was disclosed by Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during a press conference on the administration’s fight against corruption in Abuja on Thursday, February 3.

    He said the “Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), in 2020-2021, revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria,” while 424 associates and supporters of the financiers were also uncovered.

    Also, about 123 companies and 33 Bureau de change, were linked to terrorists in addition to 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven co-conspirators who have now been identified.

    According to the minister, “the analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and seizure of assets”.

    Still, on terrorism financing, Lai Mohammed said the NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, kidnapping, and others with 19 countries.

    During the same period, 2020-2021, the organization returned fraudulently-obtained funds totaling US$103,722,102.83, 3,000 Pound Sterling; 7,695 Singapore dollar, and 1,091 Euros to 11 countries of victims who came into the country.

    READ FULL TEXT OF MINISTER’S BRIEFING

    TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND CULTURE, ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED, ON THE ADMINISTRATION’S FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY, FEB. 3RD 2022

    Good afternoon gentlemen and happy new year, since this is our first meeting this year. And as always, I thank you for honouring our invitation.

    2. As you are aware, one of the three major policy planks of this Administration is the fight against corruption, with the others of course being to tackle insecurity and also to revamp the economy. We will be having a series of thematic press conferences on these issues in the days ahead, with this one – on the fight against corruption – being the first one.

    3. It is common knowledge that one of the most difficult tasks for any government is to fight corruption, because when you fight corruption, corruption will fight you back! This explains why naysayers have continued to belittle or dismiss the Administration’s anti-corruption efforts. Let me say here that fighting corruption is a marathon, and never a sprint. Also, investigations, arrests, prosecutions and asset forfeiture – which are the immediate, visible indices by which many measure success in tackling corruption, constitute – as important as they are – just a part of the strategies to combat corruption. There is also a more fundamental strategy, which I will describe as structural and governance reforms or, if you like, institutional reforms. Today’s press conference will therefore look at this fundamental strategy and also highlight the successes recorded in recent times by the various anti-corruption agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

    4. Gentlemen, the Buhari Administration has taken bold measures to streamline cumbersome bureaucratic processes in the implementation of government policies, check corrupt practices and ensure accountability in the implementation as well as delivery of these policies. These reforms are all inclusive, cutting across all spheres of governance and not excluding even the private sector. They are the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Petroleum Industry Act, Financial Autonomy for State Legislature and Judiciary (2020), Whistle-Blower Policy, Assets Recovery, Justice and Law reforms, Nigeria’s membership of the Open Government Partnership as well as the various instruments at the disposal of the Federal Government to track, trace and stop the flow of illicit funds used in financing terrorist activities within Nigeria, among others. For those who may say that some of these reforms, like the TSA, predate this Administration, our response is that what’s the use of a policy that is not implemented? This Administration has implemented these reforms with fidelity, and the reforms have made a huge impact in preventing corruption.

    5. For example, upon assuming office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari operationalized the TSA, a public accounting system that enables the Government to manage its finances (revenues and payments) using a single/unified account or a series of linked accounts domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The President issued a directive to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to close their accounts with Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and transfer the funds therein to the CBN on or before 15th September 2015. The TSA system was launched in 2012 but failed to gain traction until President Buhari gave it a fillip. The TSA system has now been implemented in more than 90 percent of all Federal MDAs and it has resulted in the consolidation of more than 17,000 bank accounts previously spread across Deposit Money Banks in the country, and monthly savings of an average of N4 billion in bank charges.

    6. Also, against stiff opposition, the Buhari Administration has expanded the coverage of IPPIS. TSA and IPPIS remain an unfolding revolution in public finance in Nigeria that have incorporated transparency and accountability into the system. The use of BVN to verify the Federal Government’s payroll on the IPPIS platform has so far led to the detection of 54,000 fraudulent payroll entries. The Federal Government has also utilized the BVN system to verify beneficiaries and vendors in the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), the N-Power Programme and the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP), among others.

    7. The Whistle-blower Policy is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. The policy is meant to encourage the voluntary disclosure of information about fraud, bribery and looted government funds, including financial misconduct and any other form of corruption or theft. The Whistle Blower whose information leads to recovery is entitled to 2.5 to 5% from the recovered funds. Information and tips received are usually referred to the EFCC, ICPC, and NFIU for further painstaking investigation. The policy has helped in the cleansing of IPPIS, led to compliance on TSA and enhanced the Procurement Act 2007. As at 2020, a total sum of N700 billion has been recovered through the Whistle-Blower Policy.

    8 Then, there is the Petroleum Industry Act (2021). As you are aware, there has been a dire need for Nigeria to reform the laws of its oil & gas sector, which accounts for 90% of its foreign exchange earnings and about 65% of government’s revenue. While some of the laws had become outdated and unsuited to the 21st century, some were simply non-existent to regulate certain activities, thereby providing loopholes to be exploited by corrupt practitioners. One of such is the P&ID case in which a company registered in a foreign tax haven colluded with corrupt officials over a set-to-fail gas processing project to secure about $10 billion award against the Nigerian government via an arbitration process abroad. Attempts to revamp petroleum laws by successive governments proved futile for over 20 years until President Muhammadu Buhari broke the jinx to push through the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, through strong will and determination.

    9. Gentlemen, President Muhammadu Buhari signed an Executive Order in May 2020 that unequivocally granted financial autonomy to State Houses of Assembly, State Judiciaries as well as the Local Governments, as the third tier of government. The order also mandated the Accountant-General of the Federation to deduct, from source, funds due to state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation of states that fail to comply. Lack of financial autonomy for the separate arms of government at the state level is a major structural flaw that is in need of reform, and this has been addressed by the Buhari Administration. Also, the financial suffocation of LGs is a major enabler of insecurity and terrorism in the Nigerian countryside.
    Most of Nigeria’s 774 LGAs exist in rural areas where effective local governance is an existential issue. To underscore their responsibility to the people, President Buhari recently reminded the LG Chairmen of their burden of accounting for every kobo allocated to their Councils, should they fold their arms and allow the sharing to continue by the state governors.

    10 On Assets Recovery, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has assisted anti-corruption agencies in devising clearer strategies for obtaining forfeiture of assets suspected to have been fraudulently acquired from state coffers before prosecuting suspected culprits. Part of this work has involved painstakingly reviewing existing Laws (Money Laundering Act, 2004, EFCC Act, 2004 and ICPC Act, 2000) to identify and highlight sections directly conferring powers of forfeiture on Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies.
    This advocacy has led to a significant increase in the use of Non-Conviction Based Asset Forfeiture Mechanisms by anti-corruption agencies.

    11. To check terrorism financing in Nigeria, the Federal Government has deployed a plethora of tools, including the Money Laundering Act, 2004, the EFCC Act, 2004, the ICPC Act, 2000, Department of State. Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to deal with the issue of corruption, money laundering and terror financing. The ongoing harmonization of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) with National Identification Numbers (NIN) is also a means of tracking the flow of funds within Nigeria and, by extension, tackling terror financing.

    12. Let me now highlight the much more-visible activities of some of the various anti-corruption agencies, all of which have been effectively carrying out their mandates. In 2021 alone, the EFCC secured a total of 2,220 convictions. That represents a 127 percent increase in the number of convictions (976) recorded in 2020, and a far cry from the 195 convictions secured in 2016, the 189 in 2017, the 312 convictions in 2018, and the 1,280 recorded in 2019. The 2021 figure of 2,220 convictions represents a 98.49 per cent success rate, with only 34 cases (representing 1.51 per cent) discharged. On Monetary recoveries, in 2021 alone, the EFCC recovered a total monetary amount of N152,088,698,751.64; 1,182,519.75 Pounds Sterling, 50 Emirati Dirham, 1,723,310 Saudi Riyal, 1,900 South African Rand; US$386,220,202.85; 156,246.76 Euros; 1,400 Canadian Dollars;
    5.36957319 Bitcoin and 0.09012 Ethereum. The last two are digital currencies.

    13. The ICPC has played a pivotal role in bringing about structural changes in the operations of the government, especially regarding improvements in MDAs budget utilization, better value for money, improved project completion, service delivery and higher level of anti-corruption awareness. Recall, gentlemen, that the Commission established the Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative in 2019 to ensure value for money for the Nigerian people and full execution of projects. Between 2019 and 2021, ICPC traced
    2,000 projects worth over N300 billion. During the same period, 326 contractors of abandoned projects across the six geo-political zones were forced by the Commission to return to site to complete projects worth N32.183 billion. Also, the ICPC’s Assets Tracing, Recovery and Management (ATRM) project led to the recovery of cash totalling N34.346 billion and US$1.62 million between 2019 and 2021. Also, the Commission’s System Study and Review of personnel and capital votes of MDAs resulted in savings of N261 billion to the government between 2019 and 2021. ICPC has also secured 66 convictions from the 243 cases it filed in court during the same three-year period.

    14. For its part, the analysis by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), in 2020-2021, revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria, 424 associates/supporters of the financiers, involvement of about 123 companies and 33 bureaux de change, in addition to identifying 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and 7 co-conspirators. The analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and seizure of assets. Also, from its analysis of tax evasion and tax avoidance linked to corruption, NFIU has identified N3,909,707,678,112.43 in VAT and N3,737,918,335,785.82 in Withholding
    Tax due to the Government. NFIU has also sent 1,165 intelligence reports on cases of corruption, money laundering and other serious offences to 27 domestic agencies for investigation, prosecution and asset recovery. On terrorism financing, NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, kidnapping and others with 19 countries. During the same period, 2020-2021, the organization returned fraudulently-obtained funds totalling US$103,722,102.83, 3,000 Pound Sterling; 7,695 Singapore Dollar and 1,091 Euros to 11 countries of victims who came into the country.

    15. There is also the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), which was established as an institutional response to the observed deterioration in the conduct of Public Officers, especially because these behavioural changes manifested greatly in the abuse of public office for private gains. The Bureau handles, among others, issues of asset declaration by Public Officials as well as the verification of their assets. In 2021, CCB issued 125,000 Assets Declaration Forms, out of which 97,201 forms were returned. These figures represent a 48% increase in the number of Assets Declaration forms issued and an 81% increase in submission compliance, when compared with the previous year. As part of its reforms, the CCB is ready to deploy an Online Assets Declaration Portal that will allow for enhanced storage and retrieval of data, reduce delays caused by incomplete and incorrect declarations and reduced errors, among others. In 2021, the Bureau investigated several cases involving illicit enrichment, conflicts of interest, abuse of office and ethical breaches, resulting in the filing of over 200 cases before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

    16. Gentlemen, we have gone to this length to let you know that the Buhari Administration’s fight against corruption is unwavering and on course. This Administration has put in place structures that will not only check corrupt tendencies but will also make corruption unattractive and costly to those who may want to engage in it. Even the World Bank says when approaching anti-corruption at the country level, it is important to put in place ”institutional systems and incentives to prevent corruption from occurring in the first place”, and that is exactly what we are doing with the structural and governance reforms that I have enumerated above. I want to most sincerely commend the efforts of the various anti-corruption agencies for their unwavering commitment to the fight against corruption. I also want to implore all Nigerians to join in this fight, as it is not a fight for the government alone.
    With the support of all citizens, I can assure you that we will defeat this monster that stunts development and impedes investment.

    17. I thank you all for your kind attention.