The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has warned Point of Sale operators across Nigeria against facilitating financial crimes, including fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing and ransom payments.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, issued the warning on Thursday when the National President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, Oti Obioha, led a delegation to the commission’s headquarters.
Olukoyede, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Commander of the EFCC, Michael Nzekwe, said POS platforms were increasingly being used to move illicit funds.
He urged AMMBAN to establish a comprehensive system for monitoring its members and maintaining accurate records of operators across the country.
“We have realised that the issues of money laundering, terrorist financing, and even ransom payments are made mostly from POS machines,” Nzekwe quoted Olukoyede as saying.
He said proper records would help investigators trace transactions and identify individuals involved in suspicious financial activities.
The EFCC chairman also questioned the extent to which the association trains and supervises its members, asking whether it maintains details such as the addresses of registered operators.
Olukoyede further alleged that some POS operators had become active participants in fraudulent schemes by providing information, assisting fraudsters or facilitating their activities.
“There are even some POS operators who are actually fraudsters; they aid, conspire, give out information and abet fraudsters,” he said.
According to him, inadequate transaction records often frustrate investigations because some operators cannot identify who deposited or withdrew funds from their terminals.
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He therefore called on AMMBAN to ensure that its members keep proper records of transactions and maintain reliable information on their operators nationwide.
The EFCC boss also expressed the commission’s readiness to work with the association through training, awareness campaigns and information sharing to reduce financial crimes in the POS sector.
Responding, Obioha said AMMBAN was committed to partnering with the EFCC to strengthen compliance among its members.
He noted that POS operators work at the grassroots and could play a significant role in preventing financial crimes if properly trained.
“We are at the grassroots, and we observe that your institution is always inviting our members, so we wish we could have a partnership that can see to the training of our members on some of the issues like financial thresholds and the risks involved in some of our operations,” Obioha said.
He added that many agents were not sufficiently familiar with the rules governing their operations, making awareness and training necessary.
Obioha said the association was prepared to collaborate with the EFCC to improve compliance and reduce fraud across the sector.