FBI, US consulate deepen anti-sextortion partnership with EFCC

The United States Consulate in Lagos and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its efforts in tackling sextortion and other transnational financial crimes, while seeking closer intelligence sharing with the anti-graft agency.

The commitment was made during a courtesy visit by Assistant Law Enforcement Attaché of the U.S. Consulate, James Smith, and FBI Cyber Division official, Thomas Pepper, to the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Bawa Kaltungo, in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Speaking during the meeting, Smith said the engagement was aimed at strengthening existing collaboration between the U.S. authorities and the EFCC, particularly in intelligence gathering and information sharing involving crimes committed by Nigerians and foreign nationals.

He noted that improved cooperation would enhance investigations into sextortion, cybercrime and other cross-border criminal activities.

Pepper praised the existing partnership between the FBI and the EFCC, expressing the bureau’s readiness to improve the speed and quality of investigative information shared with the commission.

He described sextortion as a growing priority for U.S. law enforcement and proposed the establishment of a joint operational framework to facilitate intelligence exchange and coordinated investigations.

Pepper also urged the EFCC to expedite investigations into sextortion-related cases, disclosing that the FBI was working on obtaining additional digital identifiers that would assist ongoing investigations.

Responding, Kaltungo welcomed the proposal and reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with international law enforcement agencies.

He, however, called for greater support from the FBI, including access to tracking tools that would enable the EFCC to identify and apprehend suspects more quickly.

Kaltungo assured the delegation that the commission would continue to cooperate with the FBI and expedite investigations into cases referred by the U.S. agency.

Also speaking, the Head of Investigations at the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Moses Oguzi, sought a clear operational framework for the proposed collaboration and asked whether the partnership would extend beyond cybercrime to cover other financial crimes such as visa fraud.

In response, Smith said the FBI would provide a list of priority cases and share only relevant intelligence to support agreed areas of cooperation without overwhelming the commission with unnecessary information.