By Nkechi Eze
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the South Korean Police have commenced a 10-day specialised training programme on asset tracing and cryptocurrency investigations to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat increasingly sophisticated financial crimes.
The training, which began on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at the EFCC Academy in Karu, Abuja, brings together more than 30 EFCC operatives and forms part of efforts to deepen international cooperation in tackling cross-border financial crimes, money laundering and the concealment of criminal proceeds.
According to an official statement signed by Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, the Executive Chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, who was represented by the Acting Commandant of the EFCC Academy, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE I Joseph Ogwiji, said the growing use of digital financial services and virtual assets required investigators to continually upgrade their knowledge and skills.
Olukoyede noted that although digital technologies support legitimate economic activities, they could also be exploited to facilitate fraud, transfer criminal proceeds and conceal the identities of individuals involved in illicit transactions.
“Our response must be informed, technically competent and grounded in lawful investigative procedures,” he said.
He stressed that investigators must be able to interpret transaction records, track funds across multiple platforms and connect digital evidence to individuals under investigation to effectively combat economic and financial crimes.
The Consul and Police Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nigeria, Eun-pyo Hong, said the programme was the first of its kind conducted by the Korean Government in Africa.
He explained that the initiative also marked the first anniversary of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the EFCC and the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) in Seoul, South Korea, in October 2025.
“I am especially pleased that our first programme in Africa is taking place here in Nigeria, a leading country in West Africa. And I am also very pleased to start this programme with the EFCC, one of Nigeria’s most respected law-enforcement institutions,” Hong said.
The memorandum, signed by Olukoyede and the Deputy Commissioner General of the KNPA, Park Seong-Ju, provides a framework for information exchange, sharing of best practices, capacity building, institutional strengthening, research collaboration, asset recovery coordination and training exchanges, among other areas of cooperation.
The leader of the Korean delegation, Woosung Kwon, of the Korean Police Investigation Academy under the KNPA, said the programme was designed to promote practical knowledge-sharing between investigators from both countries.
Kwon, who was accompanied by Inspector Kim Sung Jae and Sergeant Jung Youngmo, observed that financial crime was evolving rapidly as criminals increasingly turned to cryptocurrency, cross-chain tools and the dark web to conceal illicit funds.
“We came to learn from your cases and your experience. Crypto crime has no borders, so our cooperation must have no borders, too,” he said.
He explained that the training would feature practical sessions on open-source investigation techniques, cryptocurrency tracing, identifying initial leads, tracing and seizing assets, and preparing evidence for court proceedings.
Also speaking, the Head of External Cooperation at the EFCC, Aliyu Wali, said strengthening investigators’ capacity to trace, analyse and investigate virtual asset transactions had become imperative as financial crimes increasingly exploited emerging technologies.
Wali, who was represented by Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE II Michael Kayang, said the training would improve the technical capabilities of participating officers and reinforce the commission’s efforts to combat cyber-enabled financial crimes and recover proceeds of crime.
He urged the participants to engage actively with their South Korean counterparts and apply the knowledge acquired to their operational responsibilities.
The programme underscores the growing importance of international law-enforcement partnerships in addressing cryptocurrency-related offences and other financial crimes that transcend national borders.
