The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede on Friday, September 6, 2024 handed over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) the sum of $180,300 and 53 vehicles, being assets recovered for Canadian victims of Nigerian fraudsters.
One Hundred and Sixty-four Thousand US Dollars ($164,000) of the recovered cash assets belong to a victim, identified as Elena Bogomas while $16,300 (Sixteen Thousand, Three Hundred US Dollar) belong to another victim known as Sandra Butler. The recovered 53 vehicles were stolen over a period of time in Canada, freighted to Nigeria and distributed to multiple locations in Nigeria by the criminal elements.
Representing the RCMP in the hand over ceremony which was performed at the Chairman’s Conference Room, EFCC corporate headquarters, Jabi, Abuja were Robert Aboumitri, First Secretary, Deputy High Commission of Canada and Nasser Salihou, Liason Officer and Programme Manager, RCMP.
Olukoyede who was elated by the successes of EFCC’s collaborations with the RCMP noted that the efforts that led to the recoveries and the hand over ceremony spoke strongly to the fact that the Nigerian government was intolerant of fraud and corruption.
“We are here today to witness the handing over of assets recovered on behalf of the Canadian victims of cybercrime. What the EFCC is doing today is on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria. This is to demonstrate that the government of Nigeria will never and for whatever reason tolerate any act of financial crime. It is a demonstration of the fact that President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed has given us the mandate to extend our hands of fellowship and collaboration with you to ensure that this particular problem is resolved. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP has been collaborating with us and that commitment has resulted in a lot of recoveries.
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“The operation took a couple of years and eventually it resulted in substantial recoveries. So we deem it necessary to let our colleagues and our friends from the Canadian Royal Mounted Police know that as an agency, EFCC, and as a country, we are always ready to fight financial crimes. Nigeria is not, shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a hub, it’s a transit camp, the way Canada is a transit camp and most countries across the world because they move from one jurisdiction to another,” he said.
The EFCC boss noted that the fluid and intricate nature of transnational crimes and the challenges they pose have made synergy and collaboration among law enforcement agencies more compelling. “It is common knowledge that financial crimes have taken a new turn all across the globe and have become a global problem. What affects one country in a matter of time ends up affecting several other countries. The people who perpetrate these crimes do it in such a way that their activities are borderless and boundless and they employ all kinds of means, tactics while moving across various jurisdictions.
“That is why it has become very necessary and imperative for us to collaborate with all our friends across the world, that is, people who share the same objectives and mandate with us. Most of the countries across the world are collaborating with us in the area of fighting financial crimes. We investigate, pursue, recover, prosecute and ensure that victims of fraud are restituted,” he said.
