The Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria, CIFIPN, said yesterday Nigeria has lost about N5.5 trillion to fraud, corruption and cyber crimes in the last 10 years.

Pro-tem President, CIFIPN, Dr. Victoria Ayishetu Enape, who disclosed this while declaring open the training/induction of new members in Abuja, described the situation as worrisome.

She lamented that while some corporate organisations suddenly collapse due to fraud, government was losing a lot of money every day to fraud, corruption and cybercrimes.

According to her, “Nigeria lost average of about N5.5 trillion to fraud and cyber crimes in 10 years."

‘’We raise the alarm because Nigerians are suffering in a country rich with natural resources. This is worrisome.” Speaking on the theme, “The role of forensic professionals in the war against fraud, corruption and cybercrimes in Nigeria”, Dr. Enape blamed current surge in kidnapping and other criminal activities in the country on corruption.

She said: “Government is losing a lot of money every day to fraud, corruption and cybercrimes, and that has emptied our treasury, which has led to lack of infrastructure development, which is the reason for Federal Government’s plan to borrow $29 billion."

“As a country, we have countless times been resonated with the perplexing news of fraud corruption and cyber crimes; this has remained a bane in the wheel of our collective progress both as a nation and as individuals."

“The worst of it all is that financial institutions are losing money to cybercrimes every day and it keeps increasing. The sudden collapse of some corporate organisations due to fraud in Nigeria is worrisome, seeing that our youths are suffering unemployment and very serious poverty that has now culminated in kidnapping of innocent Nigerians and killings which have now become normal news in our country today.”

“The issue right now is not whether people are being killed or not but the question people now ask is the number of people that are killed or kidnapped in a day. The insecurity problem in Nigeria has travelled far even to the point that American had to declare Nigeria among one of the terrorist Countries in the World."

The same issue of insecurity made many top politicians and other prominent Nigerians to relocate their families aboard. Today, Nigerians cannot move freely in their own country due to the state of insecurity. "Kaduna-Abuja expressway has become a death trap and the road has been abandoned by many as everybody now travel by train. Right now, Abuja-Lokoja road; Okene-Edo road have been added to the number of the den of kidnappers, and many more."

“Killings and kidnapping of innocent Nigerians have become daily news in the media, and the government seems helpless in this regard. Fraud, corruption and cyber crimes have assumed a strategic position in Nigeria with little or no challenge."