1. THE ROLE OF THE STATE SECURITY SERVICE (S.S.S.) IN COMBATING OF MONEY LAUNDERING AND COUNTER FINANCING OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA-OBA ADETUNJI,msi,SSS HQ,ABUJA

2. INTRODUCTION/BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SERVICE INTRODUCTION: The State Security Service (SSS) as it is known today, is a counter intelligence organization whose establishment was informed by the need to trace, locate and neutralize the agents and activities of hostile agencies, groups and individuals, who may be potential sources of threats of sabotage, subversion, espionage, terrorism and insurgency. In carrying out these responsibilities therefore, the service develop proactive strategies to forestall the activities of these negative forces which may be within the territorial boundaries of Nigeria or external.

3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 2. The SSS began as a security service in a formal, organized manner with the establishment of the defunct ‘E’ Department of the Nigeria Police Force in 1948. The Department which was also referred to then as the Special Branch had the primary responsibility of procuring and disseminating intelligence of security matters in Nigeria to the relevant authorities. The Special Branch was then a department in the Office of the Inspector-General of Police.

4. 3.The Special Branch metamorphosed into the Nigerian Security Organization (NSO) in 1976 by virtue of Decree No. 16 of the same year. The creation of the NSO reflected the desire of the Federal Government at the time to confront the exigencies of the time as represented by the intelligence challenges of the Civil War, the pursuit of several foreign policy commitments of the time and thirdly the challenge to security posed by the abortive coup of 1976. The NSO, at inception, was expected to procure timely and relevant intelligence necessary to meet these challenges as well as other matters bordering on national security.

5. 4.The NSO Decree of 1976 represented a departure in the focus, organization and methods of intelligence procurement in Nigeria. Besides making the NSO an autonomous body having a life of its own distinct from the Nigeria Police Force, the Decree sought to professionalize the whole essence of intelligence procurement in Nigeria. Essentially, the functions of the NSO was to ensure that government received early, accurate and properly analysed intelligence regarding persons and organizations whose activities or intentions are capable of impinging on the security of the nation and the safety of its inhabitants.

6. 5.In 1986, the re-organization of the NSO by the General Ibrahim BABANGIDA’s administration, through Decree No.19 of 5 th June, 1986 led to the creation of three (3) agencies from the then NSO as follows : (a) The State Security Service; (b) The Defence Intelligence Service (DIS); and (c) The National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

7. 6.The NSO was renamed the State Security Service(SSS) and saddled with statutory roles as spelt out in the National Security Agencies (NSA)Decree No. 19 of 5 th June, 1986 as follows: The prevention and detection in Nigeria, of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria; The protection and preservation of all non-military classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria; and Such other responsibilities affecting the internal security within Nigeria as the Armed Forces Ruling Council or the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as the case may be deemed necessary.

8. 7. Also in 1999, in order to give the service more bite and reposition it for greater efficiency, Abdulsalami Alhaji ABUBAKAR (Gen./rtd) in exercise of his powers as President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by virtue of Instrument No. 1 of 1999 relating to the general duties of the SSS as set out in Section 2-(3) of the decree’s objectives, the SSS at this point, was mandated to carry out the following functions amongst others : (i) Prevention, detection and investigation of: Threat of Espionage; Threat of Subversion; Threat of Sabotage; Economic crimes of national security dimension; Terrorist activities; Separatist agitations and inter-group conflicts; Threat to law and order

9. (ii) Vetting of: Prospective appointees to public offices; Vital and sensitive corporate organizations before their incorporation in Nigeria and continuous covert monitoring of their activities to ensure that they are in line with national security interest; Applicants for Nigerian nationalization and naturalization in Nigeria; (iii) Provision of timely advice to Government on all matters of National security interest; and (iv) Profiling etc.

10. DEFINITION OF TERMS: MONEY LAUNDERING DEFINED: 8.Money laundering is a process by which criminals attempt to hide or disguise the true origin and ownership of their ill-gotten wealth to make it look legitimate. This is carried out in three phases namely: layering ; (ii) Placement; and (iii) Integration. The aim is to avoid prosecution, conviction and confiscation of the ill-gotten wealth.

11. TERRORISM: 9. The term Terrorism is to mean a clandestine form of an undeclared and unconventional warfare waged without any humanitarian restraints or rules. Put differently, it is the use of violence either singly or in groups, military and non-military, directed against Government or individuals to cause political change or extension of diplomacy or political ideology by one against another or by a group of individuals against the state. Their motivational factors could most times be linked with: Ideology; Nationalism; Religion; Personal; Pecuniary; and Psychological motives.

12. TERRORISM FINANCING: 10.This is the collection or the provision of funds for terrorist purposes. Note that in the case of money laundering, the funds are always of illicit origin. While terrorism financing, the funds can stem from both legal and illicit sources. The primary goal of both individuals and/or entities involved in this act is therefore, not necessarily to conceal the sources of the money but to conceal both the funding activity and the nature of the funded activity.

13. PREDICATE OFFENCES: TERRORISM FINANCING & MONEY LAUNDERING OFFENCES AND PENALTIES 11.Any person, whether an individual or a corporate body, who converts or transfers the resources or properties directly derived from any illegal trafficking in narcotic drugs and substances, or participates in any organised criminal group or undertakes terrorist activity, or engages in terrorism financing, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, smuggling, tax evasion, bribery and corruption, or carries out environmental crimes, kidnapping and hostage taking, illegal bunkering, illegal mining, insider trading and market manipulation, especially where these crimes are committed with the aim of either concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the resources or property or concealing any person involved in these crime(s) to evade the illegal consequences of the crimes, commits an offence under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.

14. 12.Barring a repetition, it is also an offence for any individual or corporate body or both to collaborate in concealing or disguising the genuine nature, origin, location, disposition, movement or ownership of the resources, property or rights derived directly or indirectly from the acts mentioned above. 13.The penalty on conviction for any of the offences mentioned above is a term of imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years.

15. 14.The SSS, working in conformity of Nigerian’s Counter-Terrorism Laws and Police with International Standards and the United Nations Conventions on Terrorism for effective prosecution of Terrorism or Terrorism matters, shall effect arrest on persons engaged in: 15.Assisting, facilitating, organizing, managing, participating in Terrorist meeting directly or indirectly, collects, or provides logistics, equipments, information, articles or facilities for meeting(s) or an activity, threat to attack, or willfully/un-willfully destroy/vandalize sensitive installations of Government, transports, commits murders, kidnaps, hostage taking etc. such persons shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not less than twenty (20) years (see the 2011 Terrorism prevention Act, substitute for sec. 3-8 of the principal Act new see. “3-25”)

16. THE S.S.S. ROLE IN THE COMBATING OF MONEY LAUNDE RING AND COUNTER FINANCING OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA 16. The Service (SSS) had in 2007 based on its statutory roles and functions as enshrined in instrument No. 1 of 1999, its objectives, the enabling laws and legislation, created specialized departments charged with the monitoring of the economy, critical infrastructure and programmes as well counter terrorism investigation. It is within the purview of the responsibility of the latter unit that AML/CFT issues rest.

17. 17. Today, the Service personnel are posted to all the 774 LGA’s as well as to all the Travel and Alien Controls (TACs) including the under governed and governed areas. This is aimed at: Prevention and detection of crimes of National Security Interest ; Protection and preservation of the economy against acts of Economic sabotage; Carrying out an advance in-depth threat assessment of Area of Coverage (AOC);

18. Neutralization of Terrorist threat, Protection of likely terrorist target areas; Preparation of contingency plans; Advising the Government on issues of national security; Critical study of the market forces on demand and supply as well as the corresponding market index and advice the Government on alternative measures to carter for the needs of the populace; Perception management and enlightenment of the public through our various actionable stakeholders; and To enhance the Service effort in acquiring timely information of intelligence value and where necessary, sharing same with the appropriate action agencies like the Police, EFCC, ICPC, NFIU, NIA, Army, DIS, NSCDC, NAPTIP, NIS, NCS, INTERPOL etc.

19. 18. The Service also, in the execution of its AML/CFT role, collaborates with both regional and sub-regional AML/CFT bodies like IMF, GIABA, World Bank and even our own CBN. 19. The State Security Service has in a beat to combating of money laundering(ML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism(CFT), initiated a policy on staff secondment and liaison duties to Agencies, Ministries, Parastatals and non-pubic owned organization of interest. 20.It is worth saying here that with the passing into Law of the Terrorism prevention ACT PTA of 2011 and the amended money laundering ACT of 2011, the Service is now more empowered in the prosecution of terrorist and persons involved in the financing of terrorism (see Sec 1(1) of the PTA and section 10 (1) of the PTA 2011).

20. RECOMMENDATIONS: 21.Based on field reports and monitoring of bank transactions across the country, the service has noted the following infractions which has security implications for banks; (i) Lack of effective adherence to Know Your Customer (KYC) and absence of Customer’s Due Diligence (CDD); (ii). Use of obsolete identifiers for banking transactions e.g old driver’s license, international passport, and national identity card; (iii) Lack of vetting and continuous vetting amongst bank staff; (iv) Lack of well organized security department to address likely security issues including investigations; and (v) Lack of effective security liaison with all the security agencies and other stakeholders.

21. CONCLUSION: 22.In conclusion, the service is not oblivious of the bank’s efforts and role in AML/CFT but has observed that while we attempt to advance in stamping out corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing, there still exist, insider connivance in some banks as most staff are not vetted for the job, poor KYC/ Customer Due- Diligence on both individual and Corporate accounts, is most times observed in our investigations. Suspects trailed to the banks by security operatives are either tipped-off by some bank officials and/or even response to request for financial investigations, takes longer time than necessary thereby hampering our investigations. We look forward to a more robust and mutually beneficial relationship with banks and other stake holders. Thank you and God bless.