The Federal Government has remained silent on the conviction of French cement maker Lafarge.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that Lafarge, a French cement maker, was found guilty of paying millions of dollars in protection money to jihadist groups, including the group calling itself Islamic State (IS), to keep its business running in Syria during the civil war.
Eight ex-Lafarge employees were also found guilty of financing terrorism, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, who was jailed for six years on Monday.
The court in Paris found that Lafarge paid groups $6.5m (€5.59m; £4.83m) between 2013 and 2014 to keep its plant operating in northern Syria.
Judge Isabelle Prevost-Desprez said such payments had allowed proscribed organisations to gain control of the country’s natural resources, enabling them to finance attacks across the Middle East and Europe.
However, when Daily Trust reached out to both the Office of the National Security Adviser and the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation for official reactions to Lafarge’s conviction in the Paris court, no response was received.
When the Head of the Strategic Communications in the National Counter-Terrorism Centre at ONSA, Michael Abu, was contacted on Tuesday by the aforementioned publication, he said the matter would be addressed at a press briefing on Thursday.
Similarly, Kamarudeen Ogundele, the media aide to the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, simply said “no comment” in a chat with the publication last night.
Monday’s Paris court ruling came a few days after the Nigerian government published a list of 48 individuals and groups allegedly linked to terrorism financing in Nigeria.