The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has officially handed over $180,300 in recovered funds to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police alongside 53 stolen vehicles that had been smuggled into Nigeria.
This recovery marks a significant step in cross-border crime fighting and highlights the growing international collaboration between Nigeria and Canada.
At a handover ceremony held on Friday, EFCC chairman Ola Olukoyode announced that the assets, obtained through fraudulent schemes such as wire fraud and romance scams, would soon be returned to the rightful victims in Canada.
Of the total recovered sum, $164,000 had been stolen from Canadian national Elena Bogomas in a romance scam, while another $16,300 belonged to Sandra Butler, also a victim of fraud.
Olukoyode emphasized the global scale of financial crimes, noting that such offenses have transcended borders and require international cooperation to address.
He explained, “It is common knowledge that financial crimes have taken a new turn all across the globe. It has become a global problem. What affects one country, in a matter of time, will affect other countries. The people who perpetrate these crimes, they do it in such a way that we discover that their activities are quite borderless and boundless.”
He continued, “They employ all kinds of means to ensure that they move across various jurisdictions. That’s why it has become very necessary and imperative for us to collaborate with our friends across the world—people who share the same objective and mandate with us.”
Highlighting the success of the partnership between Nigeria and Canada, Olukoyode said, “The Canadian Royal Mounted Police has been collaborating with us, and the demonstration of that collaboration has resulted in a lot of recoveries. As an agency and as a country, we are always ready to fight financial crime. Nigeria shouldn’t be seen as a hub. It is also to demonstrate that the government of Nigeria will never tolerate acts of financial crimes.”
In addition to the financial recoveries, Olukoyode revealed that the EFCC had recovered 53 stolen vehicles that had been illegally brought into Nigeria, also on behalf of the victims in Canada.
He provided further details about the specific cases, stating, “We have recovered money, financial assets, and also vehicles on behalf of the victims in Canad. As a matter of fact, a total of 53 vehicles were recovered on behalf of the victims. Also, in one instance, we had $164,000 U.S. dollars given to a Canadian victim known as Eleanor Bogomas. And also, we have here another sum of $16,000 U.S. dollars stolen from another victim known as Sandra Butler.”
The handover event was attended by , liaison officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Nasser Sadiou, and first secretary of the Deputy High Commission of Canada, Robert Aboumitri, further cementing the strong collaboration between both nations in the ongoing fight against transnational financial crimes.
