By Bassey Udo
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it was working with the Nigeria Police Force to counter the activities of illegal scheme operators, investment as well as cryptocurrency frauds.
Speaking during a meeting with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, in Abuja Wednesday, the Director General of the SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, said the alliance with police would help the Commission to protect the hard-earned savings and the financial dreams of the Nigerian people.
Agama said the SEC as the sentinel at the gate of Nigeria’s formal capital markets, has the mandate to protect investors, maintain fair, efficient, and transparent markets, and promote the growth of a vibrant economy built on trust.
These mandates, he explained, were exercised by setting rules, licensing operators and carrying out market surveillance.
He however said the Commission was facing adversaries who, despite its efforts, were still operating in the shadows, outside regulated gates by exploiting the trust of unsuspecting people, by promising miraculous returns as high as 200 percent in 30 days.
“They cloak their deceit in the glamorous, but largely misunderstood language of cryptocurrency and foreign exchange trading. They target the vulnerable, the optimistic, and the simply unsuspecting, leaving behind a trail of shattered lives, dreams, depleted pensions, and broken trust. This is not just a financial crime, it is a social menace that erodes public confidence in the entire financial system,” Agama noted.
He said it was in the atmosphere of the prevalence of these illegal activities that the authority the SEC meets its necessary complement with the power, reach, and mandate of the police.
The Nigeria Police Force, he pointed out, was the primary law enforcement agency with the national presence, the investigative muscle, and the constitutional authority to track, apprehend, and bring these criminals to justice.
Where the Commission identifies the illegalities and regulatory breaches, he said the police possess the apparatus for criminal investigation, arrest, and prosecution.
Regrettably, he observed that currently there was a gap existing between identification and enforcement that is being exploited by these scammers.
Today, he said the Commission was determined to close the gap permanently, which was the reason SEC was proposing a robust, institutionalized collaboration with the police in the areas of Joint Intelligence and Operations Task Force; Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer; Streamlined Processes for Enforcement, and National Public Awareness Campaign.
The SEC DG advocated the establishment of a dedicated SEC-NPF team that would combine market intelligence, forensic accounting, and understanding of complex financial schemes with investigative and intelligence-gathering capabilities against the menace of illegal schemes operators.
This team, he said, would serve as the rapid-response unit against new fraud schemes in the capital market.
Agama also sought the permission of the IGP to go into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cyber Security Unit of the Police Force to ensure the cyber space was safe for all Nigerians.
“Mr. Inspector General, the fight against financial crime is a fight for the soul of our economy. It is a fight for that widow who has lost her savings, the youth lured by fake crypto promises, and the retiree seeking a safe return from the investment of his benefits.
“The SEC cannot win this fight alone. The Police should not have to decipher these complex schemes without specialist support. Together, however, we form an impenetrable shield against the market,” Agama said.
He urged the IGP to ensure that the meeting between the two agencies was remembered as the day the two guardians of Nigeria’s security, safety of the country’s streets and people’s savings joined hands.
“Let us send a clear, unequivocal message to every scammer, from the dusty streets to the dark web: Your time is up. Nigeria’s investors are now under our combined protection,” he said.
The SEC, he assured, was ready to work with the police to curb the menace of illegal fraud schemes operators, adding the Commission lookes forward to the IGP for guidance and partnership.
In his response, the IGP Kayode Egbetokun assured the SEC team that the Nigeria police Force was ready to collaborate with the Commission to Strengthen partnership in all the ways possible, and ensure it achieved its aims and objectivs.
The role of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the IGP noted, was very crucial to the health of the Nigerian Economy, adding that with his supervision and support from the government, the police would ensure economic recovery and growth.
“If the police unit in SEC is strengthened, it is going to make so much impact in its enforcement drive” he said.
Acknowledging the SEC’s determination to ensure effective drive to rid illegal scheme operators from the capital market, the IGP said when effective enforcement of rules was achieved, it would come with so many benefits.
Egbetokun also congratulated the Commission on the recent achievement of N100 trillion capital market capitalization mark, adding that it would aid economic growth and development.
“That is a very huge achievement. On behalf of the entire police force, I congratulate the Commission on this great achievement. l am happy to also hear from you that you are ready to strengthen the police enforcement unit attached to the SEC. On this note, I approve the collaboration with the Cyber Security Centre of the NPF” the IGP said.
