The claim by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission-EFCC-chairman, Ola Olukoyede, that some prominent Nigerians are financing terrorism was perceived as nothing new. If anything, the disclosure reminds the citizens of what they have heard on several occasions especially from officials of the immediate past administration. Perhaps, the only fresh dimension to it is that, this time round, the disclosure pertains to the involvement of a religious sect.
Only recently, Olukoyede said the agency had uncovered a religious sect laundering money for terrorists. This added an entirely new dimension to the controversy surrounding terrorism financing in Nigeria. The EFCC boss also revealed that another religious body was found to be protecting a money launderer after some money suspected to have been laundered was traced to the organization's bank account.
"We were able to trace some laundered money to a religious organization, and when we approached the religious organization about it as we were carrying out our investigation, we got a restraining order stopping us from carrying out our investigation," he added.
However, after media reports suggesting that the EFCC chair was referring to a church, the Commission issued a very laughable statement saying the groups fingered by the EFCC chair are religious sects, not a church or a mosque.
"Those subjecting this disclosure to sinister interpretation are prone to mischief and should be ignored. The EFCC boss is focused on his assignment of tackling all shades of economic and financial crimes and would not be distracted" the Commission said in a terse statement.
The anti-graft agency ought to know that there are animists and traditional religion worshippers in Nigeria in addition to these two major religious sects-Christianity and Islam.
In claiming that the religious sect so mentioned by its chief executive is neither a mosque or church, is begging the question and may suggest that the EFCC could be pandering to politics. Curiously, weeks after the disclosure, little or nothing else has been said about unmasking the said sect concerned.
Because of the sensitive nature of the matter, Nigerians need to know and fast too. To be taken seriously, the EFCC must without delay, tell Nigerians which sect is behind this vexed terror financing malfeasance and what efforts are being made to ensure further diligent exposition and possible prosecution of the characters involved.
Within the last decade, terrorists have killed more Nigerians and destroyed property in a proportion that no one could have ever imagined. Though the nation is not at war, the level of loss of human lives occasioned by the activities of these terror elements remained alarming. Hundreds of lives have been lost, scores of communities displaced and many kidnapped with hundreds of millions paid as ransom.
While the nation continues to grapple with the activities of these killers, there are now claims that their actions are connected to religious activities. Indeed, the revelations by the EFCC has further lent credence to this widely held view that the terror elements get some form of support from religious sects in the country. Considering the enormous danger posed by the activities of terrorists, these startling revelations ought not be treated with levity.
As a newspaper, we are disturbed that weeks after the EFCC made this startling disclosure, nothing has been done to throw more light on the issue that is of huge national importance. We are, therefore, urging the commission to name, shame and, more importantly, prosecute the sect involved in these heinous crimes against the nation and its citizens. Sadly, there are indications that this disclosure will be treated like other similar disclosures. We sincerely hope not.
Different factors like the nation's porous borders and utterly difficult- to- reach terrain, proliferation of arms, poverty and unemployment, all contribute significantly to aiding the capacity of these terrorists. However, one important factor in the chain is the activities of financers and we make bold to assert that they are not the riff-raffs the security agencies parade in public view.
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We recall that the former administration of Muhammadu Buhari repeatedly talked about unmasking terror financers. Yet, throughout its eight years in office, no name was officially mentioned even as no prosecutions, whether behind the camera or in the open, was carried out. This, in spite of the vital information that administration received from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In the prevailing circumstance, we are compelled to posit that any concerted effort to end terrorism must begin with cutting its source of funding. To that extent, we are also persuaded to argue that one major way of demonstrating its commitment to ending this scourge is for the government to name, shame and prosecute those financing this criminality. For indeed, they are worse than the terrorists.
