The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) has explained why the Federal Government commenced moves to extradite Simon Ekpa, an associate of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Fagbemi said Nigeria is working with the Finish authorities for the extradition of Ekpa to allow his prosecution here for the offences he allegedly committed against national security and the sovereignty of the country.

The AGF spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the quarterly stakeholders and citizens engagement programme organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

He sounded optimistic that with the country’s collaboration and cooperation with the international community, there will be no safe haven for criminals.

Fagbemi said his ministry has successfully extradited two fugitives – Hassan Bun Hussein Abolore Lawal in January 2025 and Okechukwu Josiah Odunna in March, 2025 – to the United States of America.

He said Nigeria has also cooperated with the Qatari authorities for the extradition of one Benjamin Nnanyereugo a.k.a Killaboi from Qatar back to Nigeria in April, 2025 to face murder charges for the unlawful killing of his girlfriend, Augusta.

Fagbemi said his ministry also recorded notable gains in asset recovery and management, “Of significance is the gazetting of the Proceeds of Crime Regulations, 2024 to provide a standardized automated asset forfeiture management system as well as the development of the National Database on Asset Recovery and Management to ensure transparency in the asset recovery and management process.

He added: “Nigeria executed an Asset Sharing Agreement with the United States of America on 10th January 2025 which led to the repatriation of the Galactica Assets in the sum of $52,882,018.95 from the USA.

“Out of the recovered sum, US$50 million would be deployed to funding the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) Project which is an initiative of the Federal Government to provide electricity access to 17.5 million Nigerians, while the remaining sum of US$2.88 million will be deployed to counter-terrorism capacity building for Criminal Justice Sector practitioner.

“There are also ongoing discussions and actions on pending recoveries in foreign jurisdictions like the U.S.A, Bailiwick of Jersey and France. It is hoped that we can conclude these negotiations soon in order to ensure that more of our funds hidden in various jurisdictions are repatriated to Nigeria”, he said.

Fagbemi announced that the Ministry had successfully prosecuted 226 terrorism suspects in December 2024 alone and introduced a Joint Case Team (JCT) on cybercrime to foster inter-agency collaboration, improve investigation processes, and ensure effective prosecutions in alignment with global best practices.

To tackle cybercrime and emerging digital threats, the Ministry, he said, initiated reforms under the Cybercrimes Act and began reviewing the legal framework to address evolving trends and added that, “Cybercrime is a borderless offence, and our response must be equally agile and coordinated”.

On safeguarding vulnerable groups, Fagbemi disclosed an ongoing review of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act to better protect survivors and introduce a Victims’ Support Fund.

He said the Ministry also secured convictions in six cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), including that of Peter Nwachukwu, the husband of late gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu. (The Nation)