Opening Address by the IGP during the INTERPOL week in Abuja

It is my pleasure to welcome the Honourable Minister of Police Affairs, INTERPOL General Secretariat officials in Lyon, France, Heads and representatives of Security Agencies, and our other guests and partners to the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on this occasion of the INTERPOL Week 2019. This event is unique in several ways.

Firstly, it is the first time that the Nigeria Police which warehouses the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Nigeria will be dedicating an entire week towards drawing attention to the activities and strategic roles of INTERPOL in national, regional and global security. Secondly, the Week will enhance the professional knowledge of law enforcement officers as strings of lectures that are designed to give them insight into the capabilities and the opportunities that INTERPOL could offer in aid of the attainment of our security management mandates will be delivered.

Thirdly, coming at this time when the nation, sub-region, and the international community are faced with complex, transnational, and technology-driven security threats, the Nigeria INTERPOL Week presents a unique opportunity for all strategic security actors and stakeholders within and beyond the country to interact, discuss, build veritable professional network and evolve workable strategies within the context of the INTERPOL’s mandate towards tackling the security threats in a coordinated and sustainable manner.

Fourthly, in the course of the Week, we shall be laying the foundation stone for the construction of the Nigeria INTERPOL National Central Bureau Headquarters which is a landmark initiative. Indeed, on a personal level, the uniqueness of the INTERPOL Week is accentuated by the presence of the Honourable Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Maigarai Dingyadi as the event shall go down in history as his first official public engagement following his appointment.

On this note, I feel honoured to welcome very warmly, the Honourable Minister of Police Affairs, the INTERPOL General Secretariat officials, and other partners and friends, who have come to avail us their support and technical expertise.

INTERPOL celebrated her 100 years of existence in 2014. The idea of INTERPOL was born in Monaco at the first International Criminal Police Congress which held between 14th -18th April 1914 in the course of which officials from 24 countries discussed cooperation in solving common crimes.

Over the years the membership of Organisation has grown from a committee of the original 24 Chiefs of Police to a worldwide body comprising of 194 Member States. INTERPOL’s vision is ‘Connecting Police for a Safer World’. It is from this that the theme of the 1st Nigeria INTERPOL Week which is “For a Safer World” was coined.

In Nigeria, INTERPOL has been supporting the law enforcement community in diverse ways particularly, in relation to criminal information processing and sharing, and global monitoring and apprehension of criminal elements. The Nigeria INTERPOL NCB maintains Criminal Databases in this regard. These include the I24/7 Database which is currently being expanded under the Project Gemni with support of the American Government and West African Police Information System (WAPIS) Criminal Data Base which is being supported by the European Union.

These projects are supporting our efforts towards combating cybercrimes, drugs and human trafficking, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, armed robbery, car-jacking, fraud, environmental crimes, kidnapping for ransom, violent extremism, and terrorism.

Much as the INTERPOL framework has been helpful in strengthening partnerships among national law enforcement agencies towards addressing the global security question, the issue of border security and management remains a constant threat. In this regard, the signing of the African Free Trade Agreement within the ECOWAS framework could present new sets of security threats in the West African Sub-Region for which we need to step up our collaborative efforts, devise new strategies and build enduring partnerships to contain. It is our expectation that this concern shall form part of our discourse during this 2019 INTERPOL Week.

In concluding, I must commend the officers of the Nigeria INTERPOL National Central Bureau for conceptualising this event and working with the INTERPOL General Secretariat and our technical partners and friends in organising it.

Once more, I welcome you all to the INTERPOL Week 2019 and invite you to take time to learn, as much as possible, the tools of INTERPOL and its capabilities and how you can access them from your different agencies towards enhancing the attainment of our jointly shared internal security mandate.

I Thank you all and look forward to a professionally rewarding Week.