Buhari govt vows to prosecute prominent Nigerians sponsoring terrorism

The Federal Government has said it will begin the prosecution of some Nigerians, including highly placed individuals, for terrorism financing.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, stated this while speaking to State House correspondents on Friday.

Malami revealed the government had carried out extensive investigation on allegations of terrorism financing against some Nigerians, adding that substantial grounds had already been established against those accused.

“As you will actually know, sometimes back, there were certain convictions of Nigerians allegedly involved in terrorism financing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). That gave rise to wider and far-reaching investigations in Nigeria, and I’m happy to report that arriving from the wider coverage investigation that has been conducted in Nigeria, a number of people, both institutional and otherwise, were found to be culpable.

“I mean reasonable grounds for suspicion of terrorism financing have been established or perhaps has been proven to be in existence in respect of the transactions of certain high-profile individuals and businessmen across the country.

“I’m happy to report that investigation has been ongoing for long and it has reached an advanced stage.

“Arriving from the investigation, there exists, certainly, reasonable grounds for suspicion that a lot of Nigerians, high-profile, institutional and otherwise, are involved in terrorism financing and they are being profiled for prosecution.

“In essence, it is indeed true that the government is prosecuting and it’s indeed initiating processes of prosecuting those high-profile individuals that are found to be financing terrorism. It is indeed true,” Malami said.