|
Terrorist Financing:EFCC,Israel seek collaboration
Thur 17/3/11
 In
a bid to stem the tide of
terrorism financing, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has expressed
determination to collaborate with the State of Israel to achieve
lasting impact in the fight against the scourge. The EFCC
Chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri,
stated this resolve on Thursday, March 17th , 2011
during a courtesy visit on the Commission by the Israeli
Minister of Public Security, Mr.
Itshak Aharonovick, the Israeli Ambassador to
Nigeria , Mr Moshe Ram and other
top Israeli government officials.
Aharonovick explained the workability of the Isreali’s criminal
and anti-terrorism units and the rising challenge of ridding the
country of crime-proned elements. He stressed the significant
roles of whistle-blowers in the Isreali anti-corruption
initiatives and disclosed that there are strong security covers
for witnesses standing for the state against any culprit. More
importantly, Aharonovick pointed out that “In Isreal, we hurt
the pockets of criminals and terrorists so as to prevent them
from frustrating their trials”. He expressed delight in the
passage of the Anti-terrorism bill by the Nigerian government.
“I was very pleased that the anti-terrorism bill has been passed
in Nigeria . In Israel
, we have had it for sometime now”, he said. The Minister
further said that the fight against economic and
financial crime was very crucial
in the sustainability of any democratic process. “We know the
important role the anti-corruption unit is playing today in Israel ”, he
said.
In response, Waziri expressed the readiness of the federal
government to fight terrorism as demonstrated by the
passage of the Anti-Terrorism Bill. “Government is very serious
in checking the menace of terrorism and everything is being done
to achieve this”, she said. She called for increased
collaboration between the EFCC and the Isreali government to
ensure the success of the anti-graft and anti-terrorism war.
“In this regard, regular capacity
building programmes for the EFCC operatives will be very
much appreciated. It might also be useful to work towards
concluding an MOU with the National Unit for
Financial Crimes, NUFC of
Israel
”, she said. She also explained that the EFCC is working with
some of Israeli law enforcement
authorities to host a training programme in
Abuja
for the anti-graft operatives in the areas of terrorist
financing, money laundering,
asset tracing and tracking. Other Isreali government officials
that accompanied Aharonovick and Ram on the courtesy visit to
the EFCC include; George Deek, Deputy Head of Mission,
Yaki Lopez; Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Israel; Brigadier General Amos Yazcov, Commander, Border Police
Training Centre; Yarou Hilma, Defence Industry, Isreal and other
officials from the Prime Minister’s
office.
|
