Illegal cash flow: Addressing sharp practices threatening Nigeria’s socio-economic fabric
Sharp practices in Nigeria are not unknown, by profile, to be rolling on the surface. By all indications, sharp practices are known to be deep rooted in the Nigerian clime forming stronghold of negative forces in the Country. The broadening wings of the estates bearing hold on these frames of deformities, are known to be bearing debilitating impacts on the Country’s economy, particularly as illicit cash flow continue to pose threats on the fabrics of the economy.
Recently, the records of operations by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) have shown the spate of arrests and seizures of hard drugs reflecting nothing but depth of the threshold of the illicit practice. The chains of illegal operations connected to the networks of the estates are known to be assuming expansive forces. It is observable that with more records of arrests, the revelations have only shown the clogs of attaching strings pestering from the estate.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Sunday, disclosed that its operatives foiled an attempt by a syndicate to steal at least N2.7 billion from the Nigerian economy by pushing into circulation fake $4.7 million cash. According to the narratives, the operatives had in the early hours of Friday 18th, February 2022, intercepted a consignment sent from Lagos to Abuja at Abaji area of the Federal Capital Territory. A controlled delivery of the parcelled counterfeit US dollars totaling $4,760,000.00 led to the arrest of a principal suspect, 52-year-old Abdulmumini Maikasuwa. The seizure followed intelligence received by the FCT Command of the Agency detailing the movement of the cash and the vehicle conveying it.
Following the development, it was reported the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has directed that both the cash and the suspect in custody be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation. In the same vein, NDLEA officers had in the previous week arrested two drug dealers – Sani Isa (aka Bilaz) and Bala Yerima in Hong, Adamawa state with 239 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 209kg, just as operatives of the Bauchi state Command have intercepted a truck marked FFF 422 XB coming from Lagos to Maiduguri, at Azare, Bauchi. A statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy had said “A total of 164.8kg of cannabis sativa concealed in peak milk cartons was recovered from the truck.”
Pursuing cases of illegal dealings to conclusive end has become necessary. It is observable that the prevailing system of tackling the estates of illegal practices have not been anchored on coordinated structures, much fortified to achieve an overwhelming clampdown on the wings of the networks. It is observable that the processes of prosecuting the victims of the sharp practices in the Country are not well defined to send enough note of red flags to serve as deterrence to make the estate unattractive. Identification of loopholes in the legislations guiding the prosecution of such criminal acts are well pronounced.
A recent report revealed how in Kwara state, barely three weeks after a nursing mother, Mrs. Rashidat Adebayo, 38, was granted administrative bail following her arrest for dealing in illicit drugs, operatives were again arrested in Offa with assorted drugs such as Tramadol, Swinol, Diazepam and Pentazocine injection ampules. Recall that before her latest arrest on Thursday 17th February, the nursing mother had been arrested and granted bail on 24th January 2022 for dealing in similar drugs.
Developing an elaborate system to respond to the estate of sharp practices has become necessary. Such responsive architecture demands overarching dimensions requiring reforming structures from the executive, to the judiciary and legislative formations of the government. Addressing legislations bearing relevance to the prosecution of crimes holding string to such sharp practices posing debilitating impacts on the socio-economic fabrics of the Country is pertinent. The systems of adjudication and implementation of legislations as they bear relevance to the judiciary and executive architectures, demand reflective necessity to redefine the operating orientation. It is essential for the custodians of the system at the echelons of the prevailing organs to work concertedly towards reformation for a virile system of responses against the estate of sharp practices in the Country. This has become of necessity, as the fabrics of the Country are threatened by the debilitating forces.
