A top Nigerian official has decided to end the stain on
his countries overseas reputation by breaking the scam gang's power for good.
Sunday Olu Agbi, who is a Nigerian high commissioner has
teamed up with Aussie coppers to create an "online reporting system".
Australians who believe they have been targeted by a scam can report it directly
to Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Police say this will greatly speed up investigations and
solve the problem of victims not reporting scams to police because they are
embarrassed or feel foolish. Professor Olu Agbi said the portal would lead to the
arrest and prosecution of Nigerian scammers.
So far the co-operation between Queensland Police and the
EFCC has led to the arrest of 10 Nigerian fraudsters and their assets will be
used to repay victims. Last year, angry at the negative perception of Nigeria
Professor Olu Agbi claimed that
"greedy" victims were also guilty because the scams they are caught
up in usually involve the promise of easy profits by committing crimes such as
money laundering.
In a phone interview yesterday, Professor Olu Agbi said
he stood by those comments but would still do his best to help any victims to
retrieve their money, "whether you are innocent or not innocent".