Alhaji Ahmadu Giade

The Director of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Juliet Ibekaku, has called for a closer working relationship with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Ibekaku, who was on a working visit to the headquarter, of the anti-drug agency in Lagos, was received by the  Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Mr Femi Oloruntoba, and the Director of Assets and Financial Investigation, Mrs Victoria Egbase.

Oloruntoba, who represented the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, stated that the agency was looking forward to an era of timely and comprehensive intelligence from the NFIU.

“The agency expects the NFIU to add value to its ongoing financial investigation by furnishing it with information on hidden assets like bank accounts, shares, bonds, real estates, companies, vehicles and other assets of drug suspects. We need regular exchange of information, research as well as training,” he stated.

Ibekaku, in her response, said the NFIU was being reorganised to meet its objectives. According to her, “the NFIU is the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, it is a unit that was created to help gather intelligence on financial crimes going on in Nigeria and to help other countries to determine whether there are financial crimes going on in Nigeria that may affect their country. It is also an international framework for exchange of intelligence on financial crime such as money laundering and terrorist financing.”

The NFIU boss added that the NDLEA could benefit from the NFIU in many ways.

“Although it is currently located within the EFCC, it is supposed to be operationally autonomous to provide intelligence to every law enforcement agency in the country. We work closely with the NDLEA on drug trafficking and money laundering. It is a network that can help Nigerian law enforcement agencies to track financial crimes. We want to help the agency in tracking funds and assets related to drug trafficking.