Uche Usim, Abuja

The Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria (CIFIPN) has concluded plans to build a financial fraud detection academy, which will serve as the institute’s training ground to groom real and budding forensic investigators.

The protem President of CIFIPN, Mrs Victoria Enape, made the disclosure in Abuja at a dinner and award night organised for members and stakeholders of the institute.

According to her, the site of the institute would be made known once internal arrangements are tidied up.

Enape said the prospective members would be expected to undergo a one-year training and pass mandatory three-stage examinations before they eventually qualify for professional membership. She revealed that prospective members must be graduates in the relevant fields to qualify for admission into the academy.

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She said: “We are waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the CIFIPN bill into law following its passage at the National Assembly. Forensic investigation is an emerging trend; it was not there in the 60s when some of the Acts were established.

“Considering our projection of a pacesetter status of CIFIPN, we are hoping to acquire land that will house a state-of-the-art forensic training centre. The purpose of CIFIPN has been called into question while the naysayers have continued to blackmail and even procure the services of other professionals to discourage the government from doing the needful.

“We are more assured like never before that Mr. President will assent to the bill in no distant time; it is on this note that we plead with the President to see the urgency that is required in ensuring that the bill is assented to.”

Enape also disclosed that the institute was working assiduously on establishing a well-equipped forensic laboratory for fraud investigation and analysis even as she appealed to stakeholders to, as a matter of priority, help the institute in that regard.

She added: “This is no mean project; your support is most needed. At the moment, we are gradually running out of enough office space. We urgently need an office accommodation that will befit the status of CIFIPN. We are counting on your unalloyed support.”