Highly placed Nigerians to be prosecuted for financing terrorism — Malami

Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has announced that the federal government has begun profiling some prominent Nigerians, suspected to be financiers of terrorism, for prosecution.

He made this known while fielding questions from state house correspondents in Abuja on Friday.

Malami stated that the arrest of some of the suspects followed the recent conviction of some Nigerians for financing terrorism in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He said the ongoing investigations has uncovered enough evidence to prosecute some high profile Nigerians across the country.

“As you will actually know, some time back, there were certain convictions of Nigerians allegedly involved in terrorism financing in the United Arab Emirates,” Malami said.

“That gave rise to a wider and far-reaching investigation in Nigeria and I’m happy to report that arising from the wider coverage investigation that has been conducted in Nigeria, a number of people, both institutional and otherwise, were found to be culpable.

“I mean reasonable grounds for suspicion of terrorism financing have been established, or perhaps has been proven to be in existence in respect of the transactions of certain higher profile individuals and businessmen across the country.

“I’m happy to report that investigation has been ongoing for long and it has reached an advanced stage.

“Arising from the investigation, there exists, certainly, reasonable grounds for suspicion that a lot of Nigerians, high-profile, institutional and otherwise, are involved in terrorism financing and they are being profiled for prosecution.

“In essence, it is indeed true that the government is prosecuting and it’s indeed initiating processes of prosecuting those high-profile individuals that are found to be financing terrorism. It is indeed true.”