Eric Patrick
President Bola Tinubu on Friday meets with the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Asher Wray, at the State House in Abuja.
During the meeting, Tinubu called for stronger collaboration between Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the fight against cybercrime, terrorism, and other related crimes.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, and shared on his Facebook page on Friday.
The FBI is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States of America, and its principal federal law enforcement agency.
Security chiefs who attended the meeting include the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi.
Others include the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chief of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Major-General Emmanuel Undiandeye, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, and the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Major-General Adamu Laka.
President Tinubu highlighted the significance of having the FBI Director and his team in Nigeria, emphasizing their collaboration in combating financial crimes and terrorism.
Tinubu noted that no single country can combat financial crimes in isolation, calling on the United States to support developing countries with the requisite technology and knowledge transfer required to combat complex international crimes.
The statement read, ''It is an honour for me to receive Director Christopher Wray, the leader of an organization that has demonstrated consistent procedural sophistication and a reputation for excellence over several years.
"Your visit conveys the importance of Nigeria and Nigerian partnership in the work of America's law enforcement institutions and vice-versa. For us, it is a recognition of what stage we are at, who we are, and the level of interest both countries share in eliminating crimes locally and globally.
''We cannot achieve this important feat of eliminating crimes without collaboration. Incidentally, as the Chairman of ECOWAS, Nigeria is also collaborating with other West African countries to fight economic and other related crimes."
President Tinubu informed the FBI Director that his administration has made education a top priority in the fight against poverty, which is generally believed to be a driver of criminal activities.
He said, ''We are working hard to eliminate terrorism, cybercrimes, sextortion, and I am glad that we have a good number of agencies that are involved in reducing these crimes to the barest minimum, and they are also well represented at this meeting.
In his remarks, Director Wray said he was in the country to enhance the "outstanding partnership that exists between the government of Nigeria and the government of the United States.
He lauded President Tinubu for supporting the growing partnerships between various agencies of government and the FBI to protect the citizens of both countries.
Wray said, ''We appreciate the President’s vision in countering terrorism in the region, which is a dangerous threat, not only to the countries in the region but also to the United States.
''We appreciate your vision in re-engineering the role of the Office of the NSA to effectively coordinate efforts on counter-terrorism, and this has already started to bear fruits in terms of the success you are recording against ISIS in West Africa and other terrorist groups.
''We appreciate your support and collaboration on cyber-enabled crimes and sextortion, which has unfortunately resulted in a few tragic deaths in the United States.
''I want to assure you of our support whether it is on counter-terrorism, cyber-enabled crimes, kidnapping, joint investigations, and intelligence sharing. Our relationship with Nigeria is a very important one,'' he added.
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