By Tracy Moses
The House of Representatives on Wednesday called for coordinated action to dismantle the financial networks sustaining kidnapping, banditry and terrorism in Nigeria, urging the Federal Government to tighten oversight of Bureau De Change (BDC) and Point-of-Sale (POS) operators, strengthen financial intelligence coordination and enforce anti-money laundering laws.
The resolution followed concerns that Nigerians paid an estimated N2.23 trillion in ransom to kidnappers between January 2021 and June 2025, a development lawmakers said has strengthened organised criminal groups and worsened the country’s security challenges.
The House reached the resolution after adopting a motion titled, “Need for Executive Action to Halt the Ransom Cash Economy, Strengthen Financial Intelligence Coordination, and Enforce Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Frameworks in Nigeria,” sponsored by the member representing Somolu Federal Constituency of Lagos State, Hon. Ademorin Kuye.
Presenting the motion, Kuye cited reports by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the National Bureau of Statistics’ Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024 and independent security research organisations, which estimated that Nigerians paid about N2.23 trillion in ransom over the four-and-a-half-year period.
He argued that the huge sums paid to kidnappers had become a major source of funding for banditry, terrorism and other organised criminal activities, making it imperative for government to target the financial structures enabling the crimes rather than relying solely on military and security operations.
According to him, the Federal Government has a constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property while safeguarding Nigeria’s economic sovereignty, adding that existing laws already provide the legal framework for disrupting illicit financial flows linked to organised crime.
Kuye cited the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which require financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and relevant government agencies to identify, report and prevent transactions associated with money laundering, terrorism financing and ransom payments.
He also referred to findings by the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, indicating that some POS operators and other financial channels had been exploited to facilitate ransom payments and conceal financial trails, thereby frustrating investigations and asset recovery.
The lawmaker warned that criminal groups were increasingly exploiting both formal and informal financial systems—including Bureau De Change operators, hawala networks, cryptocurrency platforms, livestock transactions and trade-based money laundering schemes—to launder illicit proceeds and integrate them into the legitimate economy.
The House observed that persistent gaps in financial intelligence coordination and weak enforcement of anti-money laundering regulations continue to expose Nigeria to heightened security risks, undermine public confidence and contribute to the country’s continued placement on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
Following the debate, lawmakers urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to establish a coordinated inter-agency framework to disrupt ransom financing and strengthen collaboration among security, regulatory and financial institutions.
The House also called for stricter enforcement of laws relating to ransom payments and terrorism financing, while encouraging greater cooperation among victims, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies in tracing illicit financial transactions.
Lawmakers further urged the Federal Ministry of Finance to provide adequate funding for financial intelligence infrastructure, including advanced transaction monitoring and analytical systems.
The House directed the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and other regulatory agencies to conduct a comprehensive audit of suspicious POS transactions in high-risk areas, strengthen real-time monitoring of financial activities linked to kidnapping, terrorism and organised crime, and tighten regulatory oversight of Bureau De Change operators and other financial intermediaries to prevent their use for money laundering and ransom payments.
It also called on the Attorney-General of the Federation and relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute individuals and organisations found to be facilitating ransom transactions in accordance with existing laws.
The lawmakers further urged the National Security Adviser to convene a national stakeholders’ summit on financial intelligence and ransom financing to develop a coordinated strategy for dismantling criminal financial networks.
Security agencies were also directed to subject funds and assets recovered during anti-kidnapping and counter-terrorism operations to forensic financial investigations aimed at identifying and dismantling the financial structures sustaining criminal groups.
Supporting the motion, the member representing Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency of Plateau State, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, said the continued payment of ransom was encouraging kidnappers and bandits to intensify their activities.
“I am in support of this motion. When a student passes his examination, he is rewarded so that in future, he will do more. The payment of ransom to kidnappers and bandits is not helpful. If we stop paying ransom, that will demoralise them,” he said.
Gagdi also opposed the rehabilitation of repentant bandits, arguing that those responsible for killing security personnel should face the full weight of the law.
“These are people who have killed military and police officers. They ambushed them and killed them. The bandits should not be rehabilitated; they should be killed,” he said.
Offering a different perspective, the member representing a constituency in Borno State, Hon. Ahmed Jaha, cautioned against a blanket condemnation of ransom payments, noting that families of abducted persons are often forced into impossible choices.
“For us from the insecurity-ravaged areas, we know what our people face when their loved ones are abducted. I doubt if any of these people saying ransom should not be paid to secure freedom of the abducted, have ever had their family members taken by these criminals. Even the Federal Bureau of Investigations pay ransom to secure the life, sometimes of one person,” he said.
Jaha also urged the Federal Government to provide rehabilitation and psychosocial support for victims rescued from captivity.
The House consequently mandated its Committees on National Security and Intelligence, Banking Regulations and Financial Crimes to monitor the implementation of the resolutions and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.