THE ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set up an Immigration Fraud Section in some of its Commands across the country.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja said its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Tuesday, while receiving a delegation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The delegation was led by its Director General, Superintendent Rabhi Abdallah at the Commission’s corporate headquarters, Abuja.
Olukoyede said the measure was to tackle immigration fraud and its accompanying reputational damage it was causing in the country.
He said that the section was established barely two weeks ago.
According to him, the commission was motivated to set it up as a result of the stream of fraud taking place on immigration matters in the country and the need to protect Nigerians from the antics of immigration fraudsters.
“Apart from what we have done in the foreign exchange market, two weeks ago we set up an Immigration Fraud Section.
“They are in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and in all our zonal Commands where we have embassies because we have seen quite a lot of fraud in that area.
“They have scammed people a lot, so we want to devote our attention and resources to that area to ensure that Nigerians and diplomatic missions in Nigeria will not be victims of visa and immigration scam again,” he said.
Olukoyede expressed readiness of the commission to partner with RCMP in the fight against corruption.
According to him, the commission continues to draw strength from synergy and collaboration with other law enforcement agencies across the world.
Abdallah, while explaining the rationale of his visit to the EFCC, stated that the RCMP delegation was in Nigeria to explore ways of collaboration and partnership with the commission.
He raised hopes of deployment of Canadian law enforcement officers in joint operations and investigations with the EFCC.
The leader of the delegation also pledged to further team up with the commission in other ways that would be beneficial to Nigeria and the West African region.
“The department that I am in charge of in the RCMP is in partnership with government agencies and that partnership comes with some funding.
“And, that funding is utilised in the past 30 years to deploy Canadian law enforcement officers to various peace operations around the world.
“But now in more and more specialised smaller investigations in areas so that we can contribute to stability and make sure that we are providing some levels of support, when and where it is needed,” he said.
According to him, in one end of the spectrum we are helping support policing and at the other end, we are working hand-in-hand with partners to advance investigations around the world and contribute to stability and global security.
“So, as part of looking forward and looking for new nations that we can send Canadian law enforcement officers to help contribute to stability and advancing global security.
“I thought of the experiences that I have working with the EFCC in the past and that I might come and explore opportunities with a partner such as the EFCC.
“I want to pitch the idea and see how we can potentially come to collaborating.
“Our collaboration has been solid on the operations side and we hope to enhance it by working together in terms of advancing what will be beneficial to Nigeria and the whole region,” he said.
Also speaking, Robert Aboumitri, Senior Intelligence Analyst with RCMP, disclosed that the commission was chosen for its high record of efficiency, professionalism and outcomes.
“Since we established the RCMP in 2021, the most effective partner that we have had is the EFCC. I say this because we have solved a lot of cases and done a lot of investigations together.
“I want to tell you that the most professional agency that we have found in Nigeria is the EFCC. Not only in terms of results but also in terms of knowledge, training and hunger for even more knowledge.” (NAN)
