….A national embarrassment – President CRAN
A former Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, has called on all security agencies to close ranks to tackle the endemic financial crime that is threatening the economy of the nation.
Dr Arase who also queried the institutional capacity of the national security and intelligence community to professionally detect, prevent and deploy modern investigative tools towards dissecting the criminal signatures of fraudsters, noted that attainment of an enhanced technical, intellectual and professional capacity is needed to understand the complex trails of financial crimes
Speaking at the annual lecture and award ceremony of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) in Lagos Arase stressed the need for all security agencies to equip themselves with the requisite capacity that will enable them to identify pieces of technically-aided evidence of the prosecutorial value that could engender the successful prosecution of the criminals.
Represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID), Lagos annexe, AIG Idowu Owohunwa, he said ” The questions here, however, are:
Do the national security and intelligence community have the institutional capacity to professionally detect, prevent, and deploy modern investigative tools towards dissecting the criminal signatures of these fraudsters, and identifying pieces of technically-aided evidence of prosecutorial value that could engender the successful prosecution of the criminals?
“Have the nation’s security institutions built a strong inter-agency synergy that could stimulate a coordinated and symbiotic approach in dealing with this threat including maximizing the tools of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU)?
To strengthen financial crime safeguards and fraud alarm systems, particularly, by corporate players and public agencies, Dr. Arase called for pathways to bridging the capacity gap of the security agencies concerning understanding the complex dynamics and highly technical field of financial crimes.
He also suggested closing the capacity gap of security agencies in unravelling the constantly advancing modus operandi, trends, and patterns of financial crime networks towards bringing them to deserved justice amongst others.
The guest lecturer, Dr. Bone Efoziem said financial crime in Nigeria has become endemic, saying the young ones should re-channel their energy to hard work.
Presenting a paper on Financial Crimes and National Security, Efoziem, said, that though the situation in Nigeria is not as bad as being portrayed to the outside world on social media, but there should be a collective effort to address the security situation in the country.
“The situation in Nigeria is not as bad as being portrayed to the outside world on social media. I believe that the abuse on social media should be looked into.
“There should be a collective effort in addressing the security situation in the country. It must be noted that all crimes and criminality are local” he added.
Speaking further, the security expert and Managing Director, of Strict Guard Security Limited advised every Nigerian to be ready to support the security agencies by providing information since the operatives are not magicians.
Also speaking the acting Commissioner of Police of Lagos, represented by ACP Saheed Kazeem thanked the organisers of the event and congratulated the award recipients.
Mr. Kazeem said he hoped the award would spur them more for the service of the nation.
Earlier, in his welcome remarks, the President of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN), Mr. Lekan Olabulo, frowned at the rate at which crime is increasingly committed in public and private space, insisting that the act is now becoming a thing of embarrassment to the nation.
Olabulo who lampooned corrupt public officeholders, noted that those involved in syphoning the commonwealth of the nation should remember that they are not insulated from being probed.
The President of CRAN disclosed that the annual lecture cum. award series, which he said started about 30 years ago, has become a veritable platform through which suggestions are made on how best relevant agencies and other stakeholders could tackle the menace of insecurity, bedevilling the nation.
” Outside the corridor of governance, many Nigerians particularly the youths are engaged in financial crimes such as internet fraud commonly referred to as Yahoo, Yahoo and other illicit financial businesses
“Despite the existence of laws to check crime in Nigeria, more youths are enlisting in the Yahoo Yahoo business with such conviction that what they are doing is illegal.
“Yahoo, Yahoo or cyber crime has come to be generally accepted by most parents as if it is a legitimate business and many communities are now in competition over the number of youths who have acquired humongous wealth through Yahoo, Yahoo”, CRAN President bemoaned.
Olabulo hinted that the annual lecture cum. award series started about 30 years ago has become veritable platforms through which suggestions are made on how best the relevant agencies and other stakeholders could tackle the menace of insecurity, bedevilling the nation.
