How Religious Sect Are Laundering Money For Terrorists -EFCC Chairman

Nigerian anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says religious organisations, institutions, sects, and bodies are culpable of money laundering.

Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede accused the one-day dialogue on “Youth, Religion and the Fight against Corruption,” at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja in Wednesday.

Olukoyede, frankly revealed that the agency uncovered evidence that showed a religious sect emboldening terrorism by being involved in laundering money for terrorists.

The EFCC boss also cited another religious body that was found to be protecting a money launderer after some money suspected to have been laundered was traced to the organisation’s bank account.

“We were able to trace some laundered money to a religious organisation, and when we approached the religious organisation about it and we were carrying out our investigation, we got a restraining order stopping us from carrying out our investigation.

“A religious sect in this country had been found to be laundering money for terrorists.”

Lamenting the high number of convictions, the EFCC chairman said most of them were from Internet-related offenses.

It would be noted that the one–day event is aimed at addressing the challenges of youth involvement in cybercrimes and how religion could be used as a weapon for their reorientation.

The event had the theme: “Youth, Religion and the Fight Against Corruption” and it featured launch of the Interfaith Preaching and Teaching Manual developed by the Interfaith Anti-corruption Advisory Committee (IAAC) of the Commission as a resource to promote abhorrence for corruption among adherents of the two religions: Islam and Christianity.

The Commission’s Fraud Risk Assessment Prevention and Control Project for Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, was also launched at the event.