The Executive Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who gave the warning on Thursday amid protracting bloody activities of terrorists in the North-East reiterated that the commission would not hesitate to revoke the registration of any NGO that is found to have links with terrorist groups.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has warned non-governmental organisations operating in northern Nigeria, especially in the North-East against any form of links with terrorists groups.
The Executive Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who gave the warning on Thursday amid protracting bloody activities of terrorists in the North-East reiterated that the commission would not hesitate to revoke the registration of any NGO that is found to have links with terrorist groups.
According to Punch, speaking at the opening of a one-day workshop on economic and financial crimes in Maiduguri, Borno State capital on Thursday, Bawa who was represented by the Maiduguri Zonal Commander of the Commission, Oshodi Johnson, said that “Section 56 of the Terrorism Act also empowers the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, which is now domiciled in the EFCC, to refuse or revoke the registration of any NGO linked to terrorist groups.”
The EFCC boss did not however whether the Commission has made any such revocation but cited the case of Aisha Wakil, alias Mama Boko Haram, who was investigated by the Commission and prosecuted and convicted for using her NGO for fraudulent purposes.
Bawa warned that “This should not be allowed to continue,” adding that “The ordeal of this region in the hands of terrorists should not be exploited for pecuniary gains.”
He charged journalists in the region to investigate whether NGOs in the region comply with the Terrorism Act in their operations.
He told the journalists that “Where you have incontrovertible evidence of non-compliance or outright criminality, it is your moral duty to expose such.”