The United States has taken drastic action against the UK-based Palestine Action group, designating it as a “specially designated global terrorist” organisation and imposing sanctions on the group.

The designation was announced on Wednesday by the US, which accused Palestine Action of supporting “an act of terrorism.”

The US also designated two other organisations — Italy-based Autistici/Inventati, also known as A/I Collective, and the pro-Palestinian group Masar Badil — as terrorist organisations.

US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott described the three groups as “violent far-left terrorist groups.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would deploy its financial powers against the organisations.

“Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated,” Bessent said.

Palestine Action was established in 2020 and is currently appealing a ban imposed on it by the British government.

The UK ban has resulted in thousands of arrests, while rights organisations have criticised the move, arguing that it amounts to criminalising dissent.

According to its stated objective, Palestine Action seeks to end what it describes as “global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.”

The group gained increased international attention after Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas fighters in southern Israel.

The latest US designation comes as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its efforts to target organisations it considers part of the far-left movement.

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In April, Amnesty International criticised what it described as attempts by the leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia to impose a new “predatory” world order through crackdowns on dissent.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has offered whistleblowers between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent of recovered stolen Nigerian assets for credible information that leads to the recovery of such assets held abroad.

The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom.

Olukoyede said the incentive was aimed at encouraging citizens to provide information that could assist the commission in tracing and recovering illicit Nigerian assets taken outside the country.

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“The citizens must be encouraged with your whistleblower protection. If any of you is privy to where a Nigerian asset is stolen or taken to anywhere in the world, we have an incentive for you. Between 2.5 and 5 per cent is going to go back to you upon recovery,” he said.

The EFCC chairman also revealed that the commission had forfeited cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Federal Government within the past three years.

“Within three years of my assumption of office, we’ve been able to forfeit both cash and assets worth over half a billion dollars to the government,” Olukoyede said.

According to him, the commission’s success in recovering illicit assets has been aided by the ability of its operatives to trace assets, cooperation from the judiciary and access to credible intelligence.

He added that the EFCC has “some of the best investigators around the world.”

Olukoyede explained that the commission is constitutionally empowered to seek the forfeiture of suspected proceeds of crime through the courts.

“We have something similar to what is obtainable in Australia and Canada that empowers us to apply for the forfeiture of proceeds of what is suspected to be proceeds of crime,” he said.

“You apply ex parte to the High Court upon a probable suspicion of the proceeds of crime,” Olukoyede explained.

The EFCC chairman cited several cases in which the commission had secured asset forfeitures, including cases involving a former Chairman of the Central Bank of Nigeria and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

Olukoyede recalled that the commission had forfeited an aircraft belonging to an individual allegedly involved in a $30 million bribery case, saying the aircraft had subsequently been added to the Presidential Air Fleet.

“This aircraft was forfeited by someone who was supposed to be a member of the monetary committee of a power project in Nigeria. We discovered he collected a bribe of about $30 million in Nigeria.

“He forfeited that about three months ago, and it has been added to the presidential air fleet at the moment,” he said.

He also disclosed that the EFCC had forfeited a property containing about 753 housing units linked to a former CBN governor.

“That property contains about 753 housing units we forfeited from an erstwhile governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. We have criminal charges against him [in] about three courts,” Olukoyede said.

On the former Attorney-General, Malami, the EFCC chairman said the commission traced about 57 properties allegedly linked to him and had secured the forfeiture of about 48.

“Sometimes last year, I opened investigations upon reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office by the immediate past attorney-general of Nigeria.

“We discovered that within eight years of his being in office, we were able to trace about 57 such properties to him. We’ve been able to forfeit about 48,” he said.

Olukoyede also disclosed that the commission had forfeited a private university linked to a director in the Federal Ministry of Health following an investigation, after which the official voluntarily surrendered the property.

The EFCC boss stressed the importance of whistleblower protection and credible intelligence in the fight against corruption and the recovery of assets allegedly taken out of Nigeria.

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Works, David Umahi, for their intervention in the rehabilitation of major Federal roads across the state.

Okpebholo made the remarks during an inspection tour of key Federal road projects in Edo State alongside Umahi, where he commended the Federal Government’s attention to the state’s critical road infrastructure.

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The governor said residents of Edo were pleased with the intervention, urging them not to be distracted by criticisms of the Federal Government on social media.

“Edo people are happy with the President. Don’t listen to all these social media opposition. We know the President means well for Edo,” Okpebholo said.

He stressed the strategic importance of Edo State, describing it as a major gateway connecting the South-South, South-West and other parts of the country.

“Whenever there is a problem, the President always listens because Edo State is like a gateway to any part of the South, South-South and South-West. Even though we are in the North, they are the hub centre point. So anything that happens here affects every state in this country,” he said.

According to Okpebholo, President Tinubu understands Edo’s strategic position and has shown a willingness to respond to the state’s infrastructure needs.

“He doesn’t wait for anything to happen to listen to Edo State,” the governor added.
The governor also thanked Umahi for his role in the ongoing road rehabilitation projects and urged him to convey the appreciation of Edo residents to the President.

“So I want to thank you, Mr Minister of Works, and I want you to take our message back to the President that Edo people are saying thank you,” Okpebholo said.

He further pledged that the state would return to appreciate both the President and the minister after the completion of the road projects.
The inspection is part of ongoing efforts by

the Federal Government to assess and accelerate work on critical road infrastructure in Edo State, a key transportation corridor linking several parts of southern Nigeria.