The Kano zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had said that in its effort to curb rampant cases of fraudulent activities in Kano zone of the agency, the commission has recovered over N798.5 million from various suspects on alleged related financial offences between January and August in the State.
This is just as the commission disclosed that over 280 suspects have been arrested for committing various offences this year, as several of them are in court and some are in different stages of investigations.
Making the assertion on Monday in Kano, the zonal head of the Commission in Kano, ACP Akaninyene Ezima, while speaking with pressmen disclosed the update on the activities of the Commission in the zone, said over 280 suspects have so far been arrested this year for various financial related offences.
He further disclosed that over 51 various cases are currently ongoing in courts in the State and are at different stages of completion.
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According to him, the Commission recovered over $690, 400 (N248, 544, 000) from three intending passengers by the Commissions’ operatives, attached to the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in their attempt to launder the hard currency abroad.
His words, ”So far, we have 51 various cases currently ongoing in the courts, which are at different stages of completion but right now, we have legal vacation and once the vacation is over, we will resume.
However, while commenting on money laundering, the zonal commission said the agency has been able to recover N550 million from January to August this year.
He equally added that ”Also, $690,400 was recovered from three passengers by operatives of the EFCC at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, who were in the process of travelling out of the country.”
He added that there are ” certain areas of concern and worry to us, not only as a commission but also as a Zone, and that is the issue of Cybercrime. We are all aware of the challenges cybercrime has posed to the Commission, as well as the bad name and attitude of misconduct of a few individuals that they have created for us as a country.
”So, we in the Kano Zonal office will not rest on our oars, as the Chairman had directed that we should go all out and ensure that we stamp out this menace.
“With this disturbing development, the Kano zone, have developed a lot of intelligence, in order to ensure that we combat this menace head-on.
”This, of course, goes to show that we are sending a message of warning, of course, the world is a global village. So, the law enforcement agents have no borders; with a lot of collaborations, between the Commission and other law enforcement agents, and as a result of such collaborations, a lot of arrests has been made.
”We here in the Kano office are also going to make sure that we do not rest on our oars and deliver this mandate to ensure that we stamp out the scourge of cybercrime in the Zone
”Also, another disturbing crime is the Black money crime, known as (Wash Wash), which concentrates on the stealing of personal banking information. We, therefore, call on members of the public to be very wary, so as not to fall victims to such scams.
”We also advise members of the public to avoid giving information of their bank account details because a lot of them receive unsolicited calls, E-mails, asking of banking information, as no banks in the country will call its customers, asking them of their bank information.
”Most of these crimes are often perpetrated in the weekends. So, if such persons fall victim, they may not be able to get in contact, with the bank.”
However ,while commenting on the prevalence of Ponzi scheme, he said Nigerians have been falling victim of their dubious activities.
He then urged members of the public, not to allow themselves to be duped or swindled by these scammers, who use various names, like Galaxy, Arewa and all sorts of names to lure their victims in the quest to get rich quick syndrome, which sometimes lead to the ruining and breaking up of so many families and homes.
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