Police seize over ₦2bn criminal assets, arrest fugitives in global crackdown

The Nigeria Police Force, through the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Nigeria, has arrested more than 10 fugitives and secured the permanent forfeiture of criminal assets worth over ₦2 billion in a year-long international crackdown on transnational crime.

The Police Force disclosed this on Monday in a statement marking Police Cooperation Day, highlighting the results of Nigeria’s sustained intelligence-sharing and international law-enforcement partnerships between September 7, 2025 and August 2026.

According to the police, the INTERPOL-led cooperation also resulted in more than five international extraditions and handovers, while over 60 victims of trafficking and kidnapping were rescued during the period.

The NCB further facilitated investigations into more than 43 financial crime cases and received at least 15 cybercrime referrals from INTERPOL partner National Central Bureaus across the world.

The Police Force said the results reflected the growing importance of international cooperation in tackling criminals whose activities cross national borders.

“Fugitives located and brought closer to justice across borders, trafficking and kidnapping networks disrupted, victims rescued and reunited with safety, criminal assets recovered, and complex financial and cybercrime investigations advanced through coordinated action with INTERPOL partner countries across five continents,” the police said.

The Force said the operations demonstrated that criminals could no longer rely on international borders to evade justice.

It explained that the cooperation enabled Nigerian law enforcement authorities to connect intelligence with police agencies in other countries, track suspects, disrupt criminal networks and pursue the recovery of illicit assets.

The police also highlighted the rescue of more than 60 trafficking and kidnapping victims as a major achievement, stressing that the operations went beyond arrests and investigations to protecting people caught up in criminal networks.

The Police Force said its collaboration with INTERPOL partner countries across five continents had strengthened Nigeria’s capacity to pursue criminals beyond its borders.

It described the results as the impact of “police cooperation without borders”, saying the partnerships were helping to ensure that criminals had fewer places to hide.

The Force said the achievements also demonstrated the value of intelligence-sharing and coordinated action among law enforcement agencies in confronting transnational crime.

Dear Vows