The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Canadian government have agreed to deepen collaboration in the fight against terrorist financing and illegal mining in Nigeria. Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed the Commission’s readiness to scale up its activities in these areas during a courtesy visit from a Canadian delegation led by Senior Project Manager for the Counter‑terrorism and Anti‑Crimes Capacity Building Programmes Division, Wilma Endamne, and UNODC Counter‑terrorism Unit Project Coordinator, Tom Parker, at the EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, on Friday, 24 April 2026.
Olukoyede, speaking through his Chief of Staff, Commander CE Michael Nzekwe, expressed appreciation for the long‑standing support the EFCC has received from UNODC and the Canadian government, noting that the Commission has benefited from capacity‑building interventions over the years. He said the EFCC remains relentless in tackling terrorism financing and illegal mining, and highlighted that the agency has secured a considerable number of convictions in these areas across its zonal directorates. He added that criminals are increasingly using advanced technology, which requires the Commission to continually upgrade its own technical and investigative capacity, especially in terrorism‑financing, illegal‑mining and money‑laundering cases.
The EFCC Chairman reiterated that the Commission is open to further collaboration and capacity‑building initiatives, and stressed that the agency is committed to working more closely with UNODC and its partners to dismantle the structures that support terrorism financing. Director of Investigations, Commander CE Abdulkarim Chukkol, said the EFCC has recently intensified its crackdown on illegal mining, leading to a rise in arrests and prosecutions. He welcomed the UNODC’s readiness to support the Commission and other stakeholders, and urged all parties to acknowledge the scale of the problem and agree on a coordinated framework to address it.
Tom Parker disclosed that the UNODC’s work in the counter‑terrorism space has been supported by the Canadian government, particularly through a project examining the links between illicit mining, artisanal mining and terrorist financing. He said the initiative focuses on illegal financial flows generated from these activities and has brought together various actors, including mining regulators, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the revenue authorities and security agencies, into a technical working group. He emphasized the importance of integrating enforcement, regulation, and intelligence‑gathering to cut off the financial lifelines of terrorist networks.
Wilma Endamne outlined specific areas where Canada’s programme could support Nigerian law‑enforcement agencies, including the provision of equipment, software and policing‑capacity enhancements. She said Canadian federal policing could extend technical and operational support to help Nigerian agencies respond more effectively to evolving threats. The discussions underscored a shared commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s financial‑intelligence and enforcement architecture, curbing the proceeds of illegal mining, and disrupting the financing that sustains terrorism and other serious organised crimes.