We’ll Extradite Nigerians Facing FBI Fraud Charges In U.S – FG

The Nigerian Government will not hesitate to extradite citizens charged with massive conspiracy to steal millions of dollars through various schemes in the United States, says the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).

NIDCOM Chairman, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, stated this after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California named 77 Nigerians among 80 others who would be prosecuted for “business email compromise (BEC) frauds, romance scams, and schemes targeting the elderly – to defraud victims out of millions of dollars.”

“We acknowledge the fact that accusation does not mean guilt, and we hope that all the accused will be given fair and speedy trial,” said Dabiri-Erewa in a statement on Friday.

“We also ask those accused in Nigeria to voluntarily turn themselves in to American authorities to clear their names without which the Nigerian government should extradite them if relevant international treaties between the two governments are invoked,” said the NIDCOM Chairman.

While pledging to continue to monitor the case closely, Abike-Dabiri said NIDCOM will “resist any stereotype of Nigerians generally.”

Meanwhile in the statement indicting Nigerians, the U.S Department of Justice of the Central District of California said: “A 252-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges 80 defendants, most of whom are Nigerian nationals, with participating in a massive conspiracy to steal millions of dollars through a variety of fraud schemes and launder the funds through a Los Angeles-based money laundering network.”

In the indictment, one Valentine Iro and one Chukwudi Igbokwe were said to be the lead suspects in the network.

The U.S authorities said they have already arrested 14 defendants across the United States, “with 11 of those arrests taking place in the Los Angeles region.”