The Nigerien Minister of the Interior and Decentralization, Mr. Hamadou Adamou Souley chaired, this Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at the Mahatma Ghandi conference center in Niamey, the opening ceremony of the 17th Annual General Assembly of the Committee of Heads of West African Police, under the theme “Police and Terrorism in West Africa”.
The agenda of this 17th General Assembly covers several points, namely the presentation of the WAPCCO and its activities for the advancement of its 16th Assembly; a round table under the theme of the police in the fight against terrorism, a brief intervention by the representatives of CAPCCO/SAPCCO/EAPCO; a presentation of a briefing on Interpol’s role and tools to facilitate collaboration in the fight against transnational organized crime; a presentation of an overview of current trends in human trafficking.
There will also be a presentation of regional crime statistics; highlighting the efforts of ECOWAS in the fight against terrorism and the police component of ECOWAS, and finally the debate on the permanent secretariat of WAPCCO and its functioning in accordance with best practices.
In his opening speech delivered on this occasion, the Minister of the Interior and Decentralization of Niger, Mr. Hamadou Adamou Souley, first of all, wanted to thank the Economic Community of East African States West for the choice of Niger to host the various meetings within the framework of the 17th General Assembly of the Committee of West African Police Chiefs”
Speaking of the theme, Mr. Hamadou Adamou indicated that ”these meetings are being held at a crucial and decisive moment for our sub-region, particularly because of the unprecedented resurgence of various security threats”.
These threats, he underlined, translate in particular into the activism of terrorist groups and criminal gangs in the Sahelo-Saharan zone and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and along the West African coasts”.
Faced with these threats, announced the Minister of the Interior of Niger, ”our States have decided to strengthen their cooperation by developing greater synergy of action through vigorous and concerted responses”.
In view of the ”security challenges that are ours today, the Committee of African Police Chiefs, as a platform for analysis and exchanges, is called upon to play a decisive role in the process of proposal of solutions to these challenges facing our sub-region,” said Hamadou Adamou Souley
To this end, he added, ”your reflections must make it possible to consider more operational solutions to overcome the various forms of transnational organized crime which create the bed for poverty and weigh down the socio-economic development of our States”, while taking into account ”concerns related to the porosity of our borders, the transnational nature of crime both in the Sahel and in the Gulf of Guinea, the modus operandi of terrorist and criminal groups, the different forms of challenges in connection with the trafficking of human beings, drugs, arms, cybercrime, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
”Niger is convinced that the development of police cooperation at all levels, the sharing of experiences and information constitute possible solutions to meet the various security challenges” indicated the Nigerien Minister of the Interior who recalled that the country has acquired a significant legal arsenal drawn from international laws and regulations and an operational system including the legal plan, the law relating to the fight against money laundering; the financing of terrorism adopted in 2016; the law establishing the organization and jurisdiction of courts in the Republic of Niger adopted in 2018; the ordinance amending and supplementing the law establishing the criminal code and finally the ordinance amending and supplementing the law instituting the code of criminal procedure”.
”These texts allow, among other things, a more effective repression of terrorist acts and facilitate the fight against the financing of terrorism” concluded the Nigerien Minister of the Interior and Decentralization.
The Representative of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. N’Dri Guillaume Gnamien, for his part, indicated that ”This meeting is an annual event in accordance with the legal provisions of ECOWAS which give the opportunity to the Chiefs of Police of our Member States to discuss, share and exchange information and to examine the problems realized with regard to trends in crime in general and transnational organized crime in particular in order to strengthen regional security”.
”The WAPCCO Annual General Assembly is also a forum to take stock of the measures taken, the existing mechanism, the efforts deployed and the challenges encountered by ECOWAS in the fight against crime” -he adds.
In the same vein, continued Mr. N’Dri Guillaume, “the lessons drawn from your various experiences and the particular security situations of your countries will enable you to learn and collectively find pragmatic solutions to deal with the threats linked to regional insecurity”.
The Director General of the National Police of Niger, Mr. Oumarou Moussa, for his part, wished to thank all the Chiefs of Police of the ECOWAS member countries, for their trip to Niamey.
Note that this opening ceremony took place in the presence of Mr. Francis Rwego Representative of the Secretary General of Interpol; and several other guests.
