The interconnected nature of crime, especially those under gangs, has been growing. And the need to stanch them has also become imperative. It therefore makes sense that the Federal Government is working on a five-year strategy to tackle gang crime under its National Strategy for Combating Organised Crime.
The crimes include terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, cybercrime, maritime crime, corruption and illicit financial flows. Each of these crime categories is a major headache in the country. Some of them have specific agencies to combat them. For instance, we have the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) that has for decades been in the trenches against the malignancy of drug lords and their messengers.
The airports have always been the first port of call and the first point where they are nabbed, whether they are coming into the country or leaving.
Maritime crime has to do with the illegal ferrying of goods and humans, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has also fought them, especially the pirates. Terrorism has the biggest profile. The nation has witnessed, with horror, the abduction and slaughter of its citizens in different parts of the country.
The Boko Haram savage scourge from the northeast and the northwest bandits has meant a nation under siege. They have turned Borno State into a place where much of the rural areas have been deserted. In some states of the northwest, especially Zamfara and Niger, bandits have taken advantage of vast and sprawling forests to do havoc on hapless communities, school children, including some college students.
Many rollbacks have been achieved by the Tinubu administration of late, and it is hoped it continues to make progress.
To succeed in this project, under the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), there must be as Nuhu Ribadu has stated, ‘coherence, coordination and intelligence-driven collaboration across all relevant sectors.’
Ribadu has said that ‘organised crime now operates in interconnected webs that undermine development, economic growth and public safety.’
He was right about the task before the body. With the launch of this strategy, it must develop a national framework that will anticipate threats, disrupt criminal networks, strengthen institutional coordination and ensure that those who profit from organised crime are brought to justice.
‘The success of this strategy will depend on how faithfully, diligently and collaboratively it is implemented,’ Ribadu said.
At the announcement in Abuja were not just members of agencies. There is an international component to it. Hence the United States Director, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Mr. Tolliver Derrick, was in attendance. Derrick observed that the strategy represented a milestone in the law enforcement partnership between Nigeria and the United States
‘Preventing illicit financial transfers and related cybercrime are not solely American problems. They are shared problems that demand shared solutions…Every criminal network disrupted here reduces the threat to American communities and to Nigeria,’ Derrick said.
Also present was the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Cheikh Touré. He also chipped in a word. He said organised crime has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem capable of exploiting institutional gaps and operating across national boundaries.
‘If there is one lesson that repeats itself in nearly every case, it is this: strategies rarely fail in the writing. They fail in coordination or resources,’ he said.
We expect that much attention will be paid to the interagency niceties of the strategy. One of the problems with such arrangements is institutional hubris. While the office of the NSA is at the top of the strategy, the international angle will mean this is different from the usual coordination in the country.
It will require blending the cultures of Nigeria with the United Nations, The European Union and the United States.