The Minister of interior Dr.Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo says a harmonised data base system that will enable authorities verify and authenticate any document issued in Nigeria will be inaugurated soon.
The data base according to him will be the first of its kind in Africa.
He stated this in Abuja at the opening of a three days national training on combating terrorists financing organised by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa GIABA.
Dr Tunji-Ojo said Nigerians does not deserve ill treatment outside the country as a result of documentarion if all the necessary machinery were put in place.
He said terrorism financing was an organised crime that requires exceptional strategies to enable state actors be ahead of terrorists and their sponsors.
The Minister of Interior Challenged ECOWAS and the African Union to ensure individual and corporate identity were protected to give the region a sense of security.
The Director General of Intergovernmental Action Group Against Money Laundering GIABA Mr Edwin Harris represented by Dr. Geoffrey Asima disclosed that Nigeria’s performance was not encouraging in the last corruption evaluation of GIABA.
He said Money was the life wire of all terror activities because it was recquired to carryout all terrorism activities hence the need to cut the financial channels.
He explained that confiscation and freezing of terrorist assests was also an important element of fighting terrorism.
The Director Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit NFIU Hajiya Hafsat Bakari explained that the training would provide great opportunities for investigators and analysts to come to terms with new trends in investigations.
She said the NFIU would soon inaugrate a training centre which would serve as a centre of excellence for Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing AML CFT.
The representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC Mr Kojo Attiso expressed concern that the West African region was becoming more intense with terror activities.
He said to effectively fight illicit financial flow and terrorism financing, there was the need to disrupt financial flow of the perpetrators.
Radio Nigeria