Terrorism Financing: 180 BDC Operators Pay N900m Penalties To CBN

*3 months after arrests, traders incommunicado
*FG prepares charges as suspects shop for lawyers
*Lawyers differ over prolonged incarceration

At least 180 Bureau De Change (BDC) operators nabbed by security
operatives for alleged link to terrorism financing paid N900
million in penalties before they returned to their businesses,
Daily
Trust reports^[1].

This comes as BDC operators and other traders rounded up by
security agents in March, on suspicion of involvement in financing
of terrorism have remained in detention, almost three months after
their arrest.

Families and associates said the suspects are being kept
incommunicado without access to their families, despite lack of
judicial process.

On a few occasion recently, the Minister of Justice and Attorney
General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has stated that the
federal government will put in about 400 suspects on trial for
financing terrorism,

“I am happy to report that arising 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 on reasonable grounds for suspicion of terrorism
financing,” Malami had told State House correspondent last
month.

Ahead of the planned trial Daily Trust yesterday gathered that
agencies handling the cases have begun contacting families to
nominate lawyers to stand in for their relatives.

In April, Daily Trust reported a high level security operation
leading to massive clamp down on some BDC operators and other
businessmen who allegedly dealt with Boko Haram and other criminal
groups.

The operation, which security sources say is ongoing, is being
coordinated by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the
Department of States Services (DSS), with financial intelligence
support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian
Financial Intelligence Unity (NFIU).

Hundreds of suspicious bank accounts have also been frozen as
part of the operation, which tracked over N300 billion, according
to a security source involved in the operation.

The CBN and the NFIU, Daily Trust gathered, have sent out series
of “post no debit” letters to commercial banks leading to freezing
of dozens of personal and corporate accounts. The apex bank has
also obtained court orders directing freezing of dozens of accounts
flagged for suspicious transactions.

A security source familiar with the operation confided in our
reporter that the operation started last year with massive
gathering and analysis of financial intelligence and drawing uplink
analysis, leading to initial marking of some 60 businesses and
individuals.

A source disclosed to Daily Trust that an initial list of 957
suspects comprising bureau de change operators, gold miners and
sellers, and other businessmen is being acted upon.

Already, according to the source, over 400 persons have been
arrested in a series of arrests in Kano, Borno, Abuja, Lagos,
Sokoto, Adamawa, Kaduna and Zamfara.

CBN slams N900m fine on 180 BDCs

Speaking in an exclusive chat with Daily Trust, President of the
Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON),
Aminu Gwadabe, said each of the 180 BDC operators was made to pay
N5 million penalty to CBN, amounting to N900m.

“After engaging with the CBN and appealing to them, we were able
to clear about 180 of our members who were asked to pay N5 million
each as penalties. They have complied and are now returned to their
legitimate business,” Gwadabe said.

He said the clampdown activities are not new as “they started in
2020 as a result of the new intelligence gathering mechanisms” of
the apex bank.

The association’s president said the incidents are largely due
to the carelessness of its members who engage in a transaction with
someone they don’t know.

“It is a KYC (Know Your Customer) issue, it is not that they are
directly involved in the illicit use of foreign Exchange.
Painfully, this is happening at a time that we are contending with
sweeping generalisation and criminalisation of the activities of
our members,” he said.

Gwadabe said the activities of his members constitute a
financial subsector providing over 25,000 employments and the
association is doing everything within its means to change the
narrative.

Many attempts to reach the CBN’s Director of Corporate
Communications, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, to ascertain the total frozen
accounts and the affected banks, were not successful.

However, a senior staff at the CBN said the information was too
sensitive to divulge as the lives of even some CBN staff could be
at risk.

“I can assure you that hundreds of accounts have been put on
watch lists and several others are being flagged daily as the need
arises. It is safe to leave it at. If you require additional
information, it’s safe to speak to the security agencies in charge
of the crack-down. They might help because they know how to protect
themselves better,” he said.

Families cry out

Some families with relatives in detention lamented what they
called lack of transparency and excommunication of the
detainees.

A woman in Gusau whose husband was arrested in mid-March, told
Daily Trust that she and her family are in hardship following long
detention of her husband, a gold marketer.

Sani Ali, whose two brothers are in custody, said the family had
been contacted to provide a lawyer to stand-in for the
suspects.

He however said aside the lawyer no one was permitted to see the
two brothers who are being detained in undisclosed location in
Abuja.

A business partner of one of the detainees, Isiyaku Mohammed,
said they were called on the phone and asked to provide legal
representation for their friend in detention.

“It is still shocking to us the way they are treating these
people. Why will you keep someone indefinitely if you have nothing
against the person? Even if there are culpable person among them
many of them are innocent but they have been traumatized and
dehumanized,” he said.

Lawyers differ on continued detention

Lawyers have expressed divergent views on the continued
detention of 400 persons linked with financing terrorism in
Nigeria.

A lawyer, Sagir Gezawa, described the prolonged detention of the
suspects as illegal, since they are not on remand by a court of
competent jurisdiction.

He said the orders often sought by law enforcement agencies from
magistrate courts, as provided by the Administration of Criminal
Justice Act (ACJA), is limited to 35 days only.

“The law says an order can be obtained for 14 days, and another
14 days, and additional seven days, but nothing more, and even the
days are discretionary as the court can give lower number of days.
Anybody being detained for longer time, other than on remand orders
by a court is being detained illegally,” he said.

In his reaction, Malachy Nwaekpe Esq stated that Section 35(4),
paragraphs A and B of the Nigerian Constitution provides that the
suspects can be detained for three months in cases which are not
ordinarily bailable.

He said since Malami belongs to the executive and not the
judiciary, he is not responsible for the current strike in the
judiciary.

“Therefore, to keep them is not an unreasonable decision based
on the present circumstance,” he said.

Also speaking, E.M.D. Umukoro Esq disagreed with the excuse
given as reason for keeping the suspects.

“They can be released on bail pending when the president is
ready. When they are given bail, they are to ensure that the surety
is always available and that the suspect don’t abscond- that is why
they demand for ranks like director as surety.

“They can’t hide under the guise of strike action to deny them
bail,” he said.

*3 months after arrests, traders incommunicado
*FG prepares charges as suspects shop for lawyers
*Lawyers differ over prolonged incarceration

At least 180 Bureau De Change (BDC) operators nabbed by security
operatives for alleged link to terrorism financing paid N900
million in penalties before they returned to their businesses,
Daily
Trust reports^[1].

This comes as BDC operators and other traders rounded up by
security agents in March, on suspicion of involvement in financing
of terrorism have remained in detention, almost three months after
their arrest.

Families and associates said the suspects are being kept
incommunicado without access to their families, despite lack of
judicial process.

On a few occasion recently, the Minister of Justice and Attorney
General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has stated that the
federal government will put in about 400 suspects on trial for
financing terrorism,

“I am happy to report that arising 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 on reasonable grounds for suspicion of terrorism
financing,” Malami had told State House correspondent last
month.

Ahead of the planned trial Daily Trust yesterday gathered that
agencies handling the cases have begun contacting families to
nominate lawyers to stand in for their relatives.

In April, Daily Trust reported a high level security operation
leading to massive clamp down on some BDC operators and other
businessmen who allegedly dealt with Boko Haram and other criminal
groups.

The operation, which security sources say is ongoing, is being
coordinated by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the
Department of States Services (DSS), with financial intelligence
support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian
Financial Intelligence Unity (NFIU).

Hundreds of suspicious bank accounts have also been frozen as
part of the operation, which tracked over N300 billion, according
to a security source involved in the operation.

The CBN and the NFIU, Daily Trust gathered, have sent out series
of “post no debit” letters to commercial banks leading to freezing
of dozens of personal and corporate accounts. The apex bank has
also obtained court orders directing freezing of dozens of accounts
flagged for suspicious transactions.

A security source familiar with the operation confided in our
reporter that the operation started last year with massive
gathering and analysis of financial intelligence and drawing uplink
analysis, leading to initial marking of some 60 businesses and
individuals.

A source disclosed to Daily Trust that an initial list of 957
suspects comprising bureau de change operators, gold miners and
sellers, and other businessmen is being acted upon.

Already, according to the source, over 400 persons have been
arrested in a series of arrests in Kano, Borno, Abuja, Lagos,
Sokoto, Adamawa, Kaduna and Zamfara.

CBN slams N900m fine on 180 BDCs

Speaking in an exclusive chat with Daily Trust, President of the
Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON),
Aminu Gwadabe, said each of the 180 BDC operators was made to pay
N5 million penalty to CBN, amounting to N900m.

“After engaging with the CBN and appealing to them, we were able
to clear about 180 of our members who were asked to pay N5 million
each as penalties. They have complied and are now returned to their
legitimate business,” Gwadabe said.

He said the clampdown activities are not new as “they started in
2020 as a result of the new intelligence gathering mechanisms” of
the apex bank.

The association’s president said the incidents are largely due
to the carelessness of its members who engage in a transaction with
someone they don’t know.

“It is a KYC (Know Your Customer) issue, it is not that they are
directly involved in the illicit use of foreign Exchange.
Painfully, this is happening at a time that we are contending with
sweeping generalisation and criminalisation of the activities of
our members,” he said.

Gwadabe said the activities of his members constitute a
financial subsector providing over 25,000 employments and the
association is doing everything within its means to change the
narrative.

Many attempts to reach the CBN’s Director of Corporate
Communications, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, to ascertain the total frozen
accounts and the affected banks, were not successful.

However, a senior staff at the CBN said the information was too
sensitive to divulge as the lives of even some CBN staff could be
at risk.

“I can assure you that hundreds of accounts have been put on
watch lists and several others are being flagged daily as the need
arises. It is safe to leave it at. If you require additional
information, it’s safe to speak to the security agencies in charge
of the crack-down. They might help because they know how to protect
themselves better,” he said.

Families cry out

Some families with relatives in detention lamented what they
called lack of transparency and excommunication of the
detainees.

A woman in Gusau whose husband was arrested in mid-March, told
Daily Trust that she and her family are in hardship following long
detention of her husband, a gold marketer.

Sani Ali, whose two brothers are in custody, said the family had
been contacted to provide a lawyer to stand-in for the
suspects.

He however said aside the lawyer no one was permitted to see the
two brothers who are being detained in undisclosed location in
Abuja.

A business partner of one of the detainees, Isiyaku Mohammed,
said they were called on the phone and asked to provide legal
representation for their friend in detention.

“It is still shocking to us the way they are treating these
people. Why will you keep someone indefinitely if you have nothing
against the person? Even if there are culpable person among them
many of them are innocent but they have been traumatized and
dehumanized,” he said.

Lawyers differ on continued detention

Lawyers have expressed divergent views on the continued
detention of 400 persons linked with financing terrorism in
Nigeria.

A lawyer, Sagir Gezawa, described the prolonged detention of the
suspects as illegal, since they are not on remand by a court of
competent jurisdiction.

He said the orders often sought by law enforcement agencies from
magistrate courts, as provided by the Administration of Criminal
Justice Act (ACJA), is limited to 35 days only.

“The law says an order can be obtained for 14 days, and another
14 days, and additional seven days, but nothing more, and even the
days are discretionary as the court can give lower number of days.
Anybody being detained for longer time, other than on remand orders
by a court is being detained illegally,” he said.

In his reaction, Malachy Nwaekpe Esq stated that Section 35(4),
paragraphs A and B of the Nigerian Constitution provides that the
suspects can be detained for three months in cases which are not
ordinarily bailable.

He said since Malami belongs to the executive and not the
judiciary, he is not responsible for the current strike in the
judiciary.

“Therefore, to keep them is not an unreasonable decision based
on the present circumstance,” he said.

Also speaking, E.M.D. Umukoro Esq disagreed with the excuse
given as reason for keeping the suspects.

“They can be released on bail pending when the president is
ready. When they are given bail, they are to ensure that the surety
is always available and that the suspect don’t abscond- that is why
they demand for ranks like director as surety.

“They can’t hide under the guise of strike action to deny them
bail,” he said.