Terrorism Financing: Nigerian Government restates commitment to global fight against terrorism

The Federal Government of Nigeria has affirmed its commitment to the global fight against terrorism financing.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, made this pledge at an International Conference against the financing of terrorism in Paris, France.

The Conference, which had as theme “No money for terror”, was hosted by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and was attended by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde; President of the World Bank Group, Jim Kim; US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, as well as UK Chancellor, Phillip Hammond.

Adeosun, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the Conference, said the country was reinvigorating efforts to tackle terrorism financing.

In her address to the conference, the Minister said, “The Nigerian Government is very committed to the fight against terrorism and cutting off funding for terrorists’ activities.

“The Government, in addition to monitoring of the formal channels of finance via the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and other bodies, is also monitoring ‘non-formal cash-based structures’, which can often be used for illicit purposes.”

Adeosun emphasised the need to address the root cause of terrorism and not the symptoms.

The Minister disclosed that the men and officers of the Nigeria Customs Service were working to effectively track physical cash movements and transactions at the various borders, including Niger, Benin Republic and Cameroon.