The whereabouts of about 150 Bureau De Change (BDC) operators arrested for alleged terrorism financing in 2021 are still unknown, LEADERSHIP Weekend investigations have shown.
The BDC operators were arrested mainly in Kano and Borno States and the FCT for financing terrorism in the northern part of the country.
In March 2021, the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said the Nigerian government had arrested some Bureau De Change operators who were facilitating the transfer of money to Boko Haram terrorists.
He had said some Nigerians transferring money to the sect from the United Arab Emirates were working with the BDC operators.
Worried by their continued stay in unknown custody, some families of the operators have called on the federal government to release them or take them to court.
They had accused the military and the DSS of arresting the suspects in custody.
Our investigations have shown that the suspects are not in the custody of any of the above as the military or the DSS were not the lead agency in the raid and arrest of the suspects.
A security source who spoke on condition anonymity said terrorism financing is basically handled by other financial crime agency other than the DSS, police or even the military.
He said, “It is important we understand how security operations happen. When a national security assignment is commissioned, a lead agency is always appointed and a joint security operation formed. When the assignment is executed, the joint security operation is dissolved and the lead agency keeps the suspects for thorough investigations and prosecution.
“It is totally wrong for anyone to accuse the DSS or the military or even the police of keeping the suspects in detention for one year without prosecution. The families should rather seek to get information about the lead agency handling the case and compel them to charge the suspects to court.”
The spokesman of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya, said the service was not involved in any raid or arrest of the operators.
Describing the accusations as false and misleading, he said; “That is clear misinformation. No such person (BDC operator) in DSS custody.”
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