The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Thursday, April 10, 2025, reinforced its collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA to tackle all forms of economic and financial crimes, especially money laundering and illicit financial activities.
This resolve came out of the discussions the Acting Zonal Director of the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the EFCC, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE I Aisha Abubakar had with the heads of the two sister agencies when she paid courtesy visits to Comptroller Comfort Ukpanah, the Customs Area Controller, Enugu/Anambra/Ebonyi Commands and Commander of Narcotics Sunu Wadahi Abel, the State Commander, NDLEA, Enugu State Command.
While at Abel’s office, Abubakar said that the fight against money laundering has assumed a disturbing dimension in the South East. She noted that as part of the Commission’s core values, the EFCC collaborates with its stakeholders to achieve its mandate. She called for a more synergized partnership to enable the two agencies to achieve greater success.
“In line with the core values of the EFCC, in everything we do, we always collaborate with sister agencies. Over time, internationally, which is not peculiar to Nigeria, we noticed that most times, security agencies play a reactive role in investigating crimes and most times, law enforcement work in isolation. Still, we want to see a situation where there will be a better, more united and synergized collaboration among our stakeholders. This will enable us to achieve more success”, she said.
While calling for effective intelligence sharing, the Zonal Commander stressed the need for joint operations between the two agencies to tackle the menace of money laundering and put a stop to illegal dealings of narcotics in the Southeast, adding that “there is no better time to strengthen the synergy than now”.
“Concerning money laundering, you find it in what you do and we do not take the fight against money laundering lightly. Also, when you look at our youths, most times, you see that they are usually high. Once you find them, you will see that they are into drugs. So I am looking at a situation where we can have joint operations because most times when we go for arrests, we meet them with all sorts of drugs which lead them to commit other crimes like kidnapping and murder. So, we want intelligence sharing, we want collaboration and cooperation among us. When we have intelligence that is useful to you, we share with you and when you have something, you share with us. Together, we stand and divided we fall”.
Responding, Abel appreciated the Acting Zonal Director for the visit and also echoed his support for the Commission, towards actualizing its mandates.
In a similar vein, during her visit to Ukpanah, Abubakar noted that as one of the board members of the Commission, the Customs remain a strategic stakeholder in the fight against illicit financial activities. She said that over the years, the two agencies have enjoyed a robust relationship, adding that the essence of her visit was to strengthen the relationship to enable the two agencies to record more achievements.
“We have an existing relationship on collaboration. I know it’s been going on. I just came to leverage on it to continue. Where we can expand, there is no end to it. If we can do better, we will do better. Intelligence sharing is very key for both sides because, there is no way we can fight illicit financial flow, corruption, economic and financial crimes without working together’, she said.
Earlier during her opening remarks, Ukpanah commended the Commission for “creating a new paradigm in tackling corruption and financial crimes”.
According to her, “We have seen the consistent efforts of the EFCC towards a total stoppage of money laundering, illicit financial activities, smuggling of wildlife and other endangered species of financial crimes”. She thereafter assured Abubakar of her unwavering support to the Commission in the South-East.
