WAR ON TERRORISM: NIGERIA'S EFFORTS TO UPGRADE LAWS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 003223

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE


FOR DS/ATA, S/CT, L/LEI AND INL


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER KCRM KTIA PREL NI
SUBJECT: WAR ON TERRORISM: NIGERIA'S EFFORTS TO UPGRADE LAWS


REF: A. A) STATE 210627 B) ABUJA 2793 C) ABUJA 2606

B. D) ABUJA 2542


Sensitive But Unclassified -- Protect Accordingly.


1.(SBU) The Government of Nigeria had begun upgrading its
money laundering and financial crimes legislation that
existed prior to September 11. Currently, Nigerian law
criminalizes only drug money laundering and proscribes select
forms of financial crimes in a piece-meal fashion. The
Nigerian Penal Code criminalizes acts of violence, including
terrorism.


2.(SBU) President Obasanjo recognizes the serious
deficiencies of Nigerian law in both addressing general money
laundering and, more specifically, the use of funds for
terrorism. Reflecting the heightened concerns post-September
11, the President reportedly directed his staff in late
October to modify the draft Financial Crimes Commission (FCC)
Act to include terrorism and terrorism financing. In
meetings with Ambassador Jeter, he has also made explicit
requests for technical assistance in upgrading Nigeria,s
anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering laws as well as
improving law enforcement efforts against these crimes.


3.(SBU) Since Post reported on the FCC Act revisions that
included terrorism (Ref B) ) done on the eve of President
Obasanjo,s November 2 visit to Washington ) the GON has
further refined the draft legislation to focus more on
terrorism financing. The draft law now contains a definition
of terrorism:
QUOTE: (a) any act which is a violation of the Criminal Code
or the Penal Code and which may endanger the life, physical
integrity of freedom of, or cause serious injury or death to,
any person, any number or group of persons or causes or may
cause damage to public or private property, natural
resources, environmental or cultural heritage and is
calculated or intended to )


(i)intimidate, put in fear, force, coerce or induce any
government, body, institution, the general public or any
segment thereof, to do or abstain from doing any act or to
adopt or abandon a particular standpoint, or to act according
to certain principles, or
(ii) disrupt any public service, the delivery of any
essential service to the public or to create a public
emergency; or
(iii) create general insurrection in a State;


(b) any promotion, sponsorship of, contribution to, command,
aid, incitement, encouragement, attempt, threat, conspiracy,
organization or procurement of any person, with the intent to
commit any act referred to in paragraph (a) (i),(ii) and
(iii).
END QUOTE


4.(SBU) In a December 12 meeting with Ebenezer Obeya, Legal
Assistant to the National Security Advisor, RNLEO obtained a
copy of the newly revised draft law, entitled the
"Anti-Terrorism, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
Act." Obeya disclosed that the Attorney General,s office
and the Presidency have been holding consultations with key
members and committees of the National Assembly to build
support for the new law.


5.(SBU) In a December 13 conversation with RNLEO, Attorney
General Bola Ige claimed that this new legislation would
supersede the existing 1995 Money Laundering Act and would be
passed by the National Assembly in the first quarter of 2002.
Ige had just returned from a trip to Rome where he attended
a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force,s (FATF) Africa
and Middle East Review Group. The Attorney General and a
team of working level experts presented to the AMERG the
GON,s new efforts to improve Nigeria,s record on money
laundering in the wake of the FATF,s June declaration of
Nigeria as a "non-cooperative country or territory" on money
laundering controls. Stating that the meeting went extremely
well, Ige confirmed that the new FCC bill was the centerpiece
of the GON,s presentation and he claimed that this drew a
good reaction from AMERG members.


6.(SBU) The Attorney General made a point of expressing his
pleasure to discover, upon arrival at the Rome FATF meeting
that "the U.S. Government keeps its pledges" ) referring to
the presence and support at the meeting of a USG money
laundering expert who had participated in discussions of the
November 9 Bilateral Law Enforcement Committee meeting in
Washington. During those discussions, the USG expert (INL or
Treasury) pledged USG support within the FATF for the steps
the GON was taking to improve its money laundering controls.


JETER
Jeter