193 foreigners, 599 suspected Nigerian crypto fraudsters arrested

He said further investigation was ongoing to establish the extent of the scam and the accomplices, including the likelihood of any collaboration with organised international fraud cells.

The EFCC’s spokesman also said that items recovered from the suspects include desktop computers, mobile phones, laptop computers and cars, adding that the suspects have made statements, while their systems have also been screened.

“They are currently being held with a valid remand warrant and will be arraigned in court in the coming days,” he said.

Weak systems escalating fraudulent activities – Experts

In an interview with one of our correspondents last night, a financial crimes’ expert, Johnson Odaudu, attributed lapses in the escalation of fraudulent activities to Nigeria’s weak systems.

“See, there is a wide crack in our institutions ranging from financial institutions to security institutions. The government knows where the lapses are. The only thing we need is the political will to fix it.

“I will not want to use technical terms so that Nigerians can understand. The truth is that, some of our major public financial institutions are responsible for certain transactions.

“If they do their work diligently as expected, all these won’t be happening under our nose without any deterrence,” he said.

Another security expert, Julius Oderinwale, queried how those foreigners entered the country.

He said: “This is where the country is getting it wrong. I don’t want to blame any agency but the truth is that, we are not getting it right anytime soon. Why is it difficult to determine the handiwork of each and every foreigner in this country?

“You will agree with me that there are gaps in the financial and security systems of the country, but that doesn’t mean we should continue this way.

“There is a need to put a system in place to checkmate this kind of development rather than fighting it” he said.

Also speaking on the matter when they appeared on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme, last night, the Secretary General, Follow the Money, an arm of Connected Development (CODE), Muktar Modibbo, and Adamu Rabi’u, a monitoring and evaluation specialist on policy, finance, risk, and good governance, commended the EFCC for the discovery, but underscored the need for Nigerians to help in securing the country.

According to Modibbo, people leaving around the questionable building should have raised the red flag immediately they witnessed the unusual activity around the area. “Securing the country is not solely the responsibility of law enforcement agencies. We have to support them,” he said.

On his part, Rabiu said Immigration, Customs police operatives and various agencies working at our airports, seaports and land borders must rise to the challenge.

“There is no excuse for foreigners to be getting access into our country without genuine reason,” he said.