The call for closer cooperation among West African law enforcement agencies to counter the spate of organised transnational crimes in the sub-region is a positive effort by ECOWAS Commission. This call was made on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, at the 8th Annual Meeting of West Africa's National Central Regional Bureaux of INTERPOL in Abidjan.However, there is need for the Commission to undertake a proper review on the security operation and situation of their member nations so that good recommendations will be projected for crime control to practically boost security cooperation in West Africa. This will improve the economy of the sub-region and encourage more cooperation among member nations.
Nevertheless, this recommendations should include formulation of organisation framework with such practical standard that must not be compromised by the governments. The various challenges confronting the effective operations of all the law enforcement agencies involved must also be properly tackled in the recommendations so that necessary adjustment and improvement can be ensured.
For example, corruption has been identified among the major challenges that is seriously affecting the performances of the concerned agencies. Meanwhile, most of the nations involved are finding it almost impossible to combat corruption in their respective countries. Since ECOWAS cannot infringe on the sovereign powers of its member nations, therefore, the Commission must be convinced that the cooperating government are ready and up to the task of complying with standard that will bring success. In a situation, for example, where member nations can effectively fight unlawful possession and use of weapons internally, the rate of transnational crime in the sub-region will be reduced. It will also reduce the influx of illegal weapons into the region through boarders and ports.
On this basis, the various governments involved must be committed to security improvement for this cooperation to be far reaching and beneficial to all. The concerned governments must be ready to take responsibility for this cooperation by undertaking to bear the blame and consequences involved, otherwise, corruption and abuse might jeopardize all efforts towards success. Such counter productive result might also set back the development of the sub-region.
The view of Mrs. Salamatu Suleiman, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, who noted that transnational organised crimes constituted a major menace to peace and security in the region, is true. However, it is good to also add that the bulk of the factors responsible for this menace differ from one nation to another. Some are majorly based on the internal challenges confronting the law enforcement agencies which must be diligently dealt with by the governments in order to complement the efforts of the various agencies involved.
The West African National Central Regional Bureaux of INTERPOL which is to coordinate the agencies in information sharing and analysis would have a lot of tax in their hands and there will be need for the body to broaden its man-force experience and knowledge base to meet up with the diversity of providing needed support for the various law enforcement agencies that will be involved. Likewise, running a West African Police Information System that target organised transnational crimes can only boost intra-Community police anti-crime cooperation through the effective internal operations of the law enforcement agencies.
The suggestion of Gen. Bredou M’bia, Inspector General of Police, Cote d’Ivoire, that the law enforcement agencies of the various member nations should redouble their efforts through specialized training in combating crimes should also be taken seriously, reviewed and strategized to ensure compliance of governments with reasonable standard. This will make the cooperation effective enough to realize the projected goals of the Commission in due course.
Lack of adequate up-to-date training, equipment and remuneration are also among the major challenges confronting the internal operating system of the law enforcement agencies in West Africa. So, there is need for the concerned governments to improve on their operating strategies and technics so that they can be more effective in crime fighting. When standard are set and made as conditions for this cooperation, the internal security systems of all member nations of ECOWAS will be improved and such will foster peace and stability.
Moreso, it is noteworthy that most of the circumstances that have led to the various challenging security situations in the sub-region are manageable internal problems. And until the concerned governments are up to the task of providing adequate security within their respective countries, their law enforcement agencies will constitute burden on other law enforcement agencies that will be involved in this cooperation. West African governments should be capable of taking decisive actions that are reasonable, effective and commendable to solve their own internal problems. This will improve the socio-economic weaknesses and failure of the sub-region.
Following due process of proper planning, preparation, management and operations of this intended cooperation along with the readiness the governments involved to comply with standard, cooperate and work towards common goals, the various security problems confronting the sub-region, like human trafficking, money laundering, terrorism, cyber-crimes, counterfeiting, vehicle theft and smuggling, and so on, will be effectively checked.
No comments:
Post a Comment