Justice Ministry improves in crime prosecution– Fagbemi

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, says the ministry has recorded considerable improvement in the prosecution of crimes under its purview.

Fagbemi disclosed this at the Quarterly Stakeholders Engagement with the theme `Access to Criminal Justice’ on Thursday in Abuja.

He said the engagement was to update the citizens on measures and achievements of the ministry and its agencies in the area of advancing the administration of criminal justice, from October 2024 to date

“These achievements came about as a result of extant policies and actions targeted at improving the capacity of our prosecutors, increasing synergy amongst prosecuting agencies, developing appropriate policy framework.

“This is in collaboration with office of the National Security Adviser and other law enforcement or security agencies.

“The ministry’s capacity development efforts were conducted in key areas of general investigation and prosecution strategy, cyber security, forensic analysis and electronic evidence, financial investigation and prosecution, energy related offences, piracy and other maritime offences, including sexual and gender based violence.’’

He added that in order to enhance response to cyber-crime, the ministry engaged in effective collaboration with relevant stakeholders to establish a Joint Case Team (JCT) on cyber-crime.

“This initiative was conceived in response to the need for a coordinated and robust approach to combating cybercrimes as outlined in the Cyber-crimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.

“However, we are currently reviewing the Cyber Crime Legal Framework to strengthen our national framework, aligning with emerging trends and global best practices.”

He said that the ministry has the mandate to foster collaboration and cooperation with the international community, in order to ensure that there is no safe haven for criminals.

“In terms of extradition, the ministry successful completed the extradition of two fugitives: Hassan Bun Hussein Abolore Lawal in January 2025 and Okechukwu Josiah Odunna in March, 2025; to the United States of America.

“Successful cooperation 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’’.

The minister gave reasons why it has not extradited a self-styled Prime Minister of Biafra, Mr Simon Ekpa, who was arrested and detained in Finland, back to Nigeria for prosecution.

“Ekpa committed cross-border offences that also required his trial in Finland.

“The detained Biafra agitator would be returned to Nigeria upon the conclusion of a legal action the Finnish government has already instituted against him.

“He violated laws in both Finland and Nigeria, the Finnish authorities wants to deal with the situation first and afterwards, release him to us.

“So, we will allow them to finish with the engagement there and then hand him over to us,” he added.

He also said that the review period witnessed effective conduct of 237 terrorism cases from Dec. 9 to Dec. 13, 2024, out of which 226 terrorism suspects were successfully prosecuted and convicted.

“On assets recovery efforts, Nigeria executed an Asset Sharing Agreement with the United States of America on January 10, 2025 which led to the repatriation of the Galactica Assets in the sum of Fifty-Two Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Two Thousand, Eighteen United States Dollars and Ninety-Five Cents 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 practitioners.’’

He reiterated the unwavering commitment of the current administration towards fostering transparency, inclusivity, and accountability in the administration of justice in Nigeria.

“While we are taking steps to improve the administration of justice, we look forward to receiving feedbacks from all relevant stakeholders.

“This will aid the ministry and relevant agencies in improving service delivery in this critical area.

“Today’s engagement offers a unique opportunity for open dialogue, enabling us to collectively identify gaps, propose solutions, and prioritize actions for the next phase of justice sector reforms.”