National authorities in Nigeria are overseeing an expansion programme to ensure frontline law enforcement officers throughout the country have access to INTERPOL’s global policing information
National authorities in Nigeria are overseeing an expansion programme to ensure frontline law enforcement officers throughout the country have access to INTERPOL’s global policing information.
Following discussions with INTERPOL Secretary-General Jürgen Stock during his first mission to the country on February 9, 2018, agencies at key border control points, including customs and immigration services, can now access the international criminal police organisation’s global database.
Stock met with Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau and Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Services Muhammed Babandede to highlight good practices in ensuring the efficient transfer of policing information, including INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau’s collaboration with the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The INTERPOL Secretary-General praised Commissioner Olushola Subair, the Head of the National Central Bureau in Abuja, Nigeria and Executive Committee delegate for Africa, for his work on expanding the connections between Nigeria and the global policing network.
Nigeria has hosted several INTERPOL meetings and training courses, such as its Firearms Policing Capabilities, which comprise the Illicit Arms Records and tracing Management System (iARMS), the INTERPOL Ballistic Information Network (IBIN), and the INTERPOL Firearms Reference Table (IFRT).
Participants from national security agencies received training on how to share data at national and international levels on the movement of legal and illegal firearms and on details of weapons used in a crime.
Nigeria has also sent specialised officers to INTERPOL offices around the world, including the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore, the Regional Bureau in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and the General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France.
The United Nations Security Council and the International Civil Aviation Organisation are among several organisations who have recently reiterated calls for member countries to use INTERPOL’s global databases and utilise Advance Passenger Identification (API) mechanisms.
INTERPOL’s databases contain details of over 43,200 foreign terrorist profiles and almost 75 million stolen or lost travel documents, stolen vehicles, DNA and fingerprints, and are checked more than 150 times every second.
During his visit, Secretary-General Stock said: “Information is the lifeblood of policing, and Nigeria is taking major steps forward in making sure their officers can do their job effectively, no matter where their duty station.
“Inter-agency cooperation is also important, so the INTERPOL connections being made with bodies such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is also welcomed.”
