The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede has called for the urgent return of Nigerian stolen assets stashed in foreign countries.

Olukoyede made the call on Tuesday at the ongoing 10th session of the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption holding at the Georgia World Congress Centre, Atlanta, US.

Speaking via a statement shared on the commission’s X handle on Wednesday, Olukoyede demanded the cooperation of countries who are in charge of warehousing stolen assets.

He urged the countries to join them in the fight against corruption.

The EFCC boss warned that countries who are holding on to the ill-gotten assets are creating difficult legal hurdles in recovering the assets and also encouraging the perpetrators.

According to him, “We need the cooperation of all the countries that are custodians or in charge of warehousing all these stolen assets from Africa.

“It has become extremely important for us to see you as our collaborators, as countries that support us in the fight against corruption.

“Now, when you look at corruption, it has become a transnational crime. If you are holding on to those assets, you are creating very difficult legal hurdles in recovering those assets. You are indirectly encouraging the perpetrators of the crimes we are talking about.

“And when you encourage it in Africa, it has a tendency of affecting you too, because the kind of financial crimes we are talking about have become global in nature. So, it has become important for you to cooperate with us.”