FG’s terror financiers’ list

RECENTLY, the Federal Government named Tukur Mamu, publisher of the Desert Herald, as one of the suspects involved in terrorism financing in the country. In a document by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) titled “Designation of Individuals and Entities for March 18, 2024”, Mamu was listed among 15 entities, including nine individuals and six Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and firms. According to the document, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee held a meeting on March 18 where the named entities were recommended for sanctions following their involvement in terrorism financing. The agency accused Mamu, who is currently being tried by the Federal Government for allegedly aiding the terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train in March 2022, of participating in the financing of terrorism “by receiving and delivering ransom payments, over the sum of $200,000, in support of ISWAP terrorists for the release of hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack”. The document also indicated that one of the individuals  on the list is “the suspected attacker of the St. Francis Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State, on June 5, 2022 and the Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja, on July 5, 2022.” Said the document: “The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, with the approval of the President, has thereupon designated the individuals and entities to be listed on the Nigeria Sanctions List.”

It is indeed a good thing that the Federal Government has come out with this list. For long, Nigerians had called on the government to unmask the faces and addresses behind the terrorist onslaughts that earned the country a top spot on the Global Terrorism Index. Countless numbers of Nigerians have been dispatched to their early graves by terrorists, and they have never got justice. The list of victims, from homesteads and farmlands to public institutions and from security agents to travelers and market (women), keeps growing by the day even as the government purveys a decidedly fatuous rhetoric, claiming to be fully in charge of security while the outlaws continue to shed blood with maniacal consistency, turning the country into a large killing field. Against this backdrop, it is at least comforting that the government has something realistic to work one. The publication of the list shows that the government has done its homework and is positively disposed to giving longsuffering Nigerians a respite from terror attacks. That is commendable.

To all intents and purposes, terrorism financiers are terrorists of the worst kind. They literally make the country a human abattoir. They destroy homes and families and leave a trail of everlasting anguish among the families and communities affected by their demonic activities. But without the financial power that terrorism financiers provide, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for their foot soldiers to carry out wanton bloodshed. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Terrorist groups need money to sustain themselves and carry out terrorist acts. Terrorist financing encompasses the means and methods used by terrorist organisations to finance their activities. This money can come from legitimate sources, for example from business profits and charitable organizations, or from illegal activities including trafficking in weapons, drugs or people, or kidnapping. Countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) is a highly complex endeavour that involves many different actors.” This submission is entirely accurate, and we urge the government to walk its talk by ensuring that the climate becomes too inclement for terror financiers to operate. After Mamu was arrested in 2022, the government said it had found $300,000 in his possession. It is incumbent on the government to show the court of law the source of this money. If there is an honest explanation, the accused has the opportunity to demonstrate that fact and defend his name in court. Of course, Mamu himself has denied the charge and spoken of approaching the court of law on this score. That is as it should be. The country operates a democracy and all the accused persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty, but the government must never relent in its effort to rid the country of terrorists.

Beyond the release of a terror financiers’ list, though, what Nigerians want, and what logic and justice dictate, is for the accused to be diligently prosecuted in the court of law. As it is, the list has been presented to the court of public opinion and while that counts for something, the ultimate step should be punishment for the alleged crime, and that can only come from the court of law. It would be a shame if a serious issue as this turns out to be just another tactic to divert the attention of Nigerians in the face of the terrible socioeconomic conditions that the government has foisted, and continues to foist, on them. That would be an extremely terrible form of an “unkindest cut”. We hope that it is not the case, and the way to prove this is continued unmasking, diligent prosecution, and conviction of the financiers of terror in the country. No two ways about it.

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