• Information sharing, intelligence, key to fighting crimes in subregion, says EFCC
Chiemelie Ezeobi from the Gambia and Alex Enumah in Abuja
African leaders and security chiefs have called for stronger regional cooperation, intelligence sharing and community engagement to tackle the continent’s growing security challenges, warning that terrorism, organised crime, cybercrime and violent extremism could no longer be addressed by individual countries acting alone.
The Gambian President, Adama Barrow; Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu; the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu; Prof Thean Potgieter of the Centre of Military Studies, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and others, made this call yesterday in The Gambia.
The call was made at the 19th Africa Security Watch Conference and Awards held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre, Banjul, The Gambia, where speakers stressed that Africa’s evolving security threats required coordinated responses anchored on stronger institutions, technology, professionalism and public trust.
Speaking on behalf of Gambian president, the country’s Minister of Interior, Abdoulie Sanyang, said the continent was facing increasingly interconnected threats, with the Sahel now emerging as the epicentre of global terrorism.
He identified terrorism, transnational organised crime, irregular migration, cybercrime, maritime insecurity, climate-induced conflicts and youth unemployment as major threats confronting Africa, noting that no country could tackle them in isolation.
Sanyang said The Gambia had continued to reform and modernise its security institutions through integrated border management, digitalisation, community policing and stronger legal frameworks since its democratic transition in 2017.
“The security of one African state is inseparable from the security of all,” he said, urging African governments to strengthen intelligence sharing, joint operations, cybersecurity cooperation, border management and legal harmonisation while ensuring security operations remain rooted in human rights and the rule of law.
Representing the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, the Director General of the Nigerian Army Heritage and Future Centre, Major General TE Gagariga, said security agencies must continue working together across borders despite changing political dynamics within the region.
Drawing from Nigeria’s experience in counter-insurgency operations, he stressed the importance of community engagement, intelligence gathering and sustained collaboration among security institutions to counter terrorism and transnational crime.
“If you do not have that one-on-one with the community, and you do not give them that trust where you can win the hearts and minds of the populace, you are fighting in vain,” Gagariga said, adding that “insecurity has no borders” and security cooperation must extend beyond political differences.
In a paper titled, “Engaging Global Best Practices in Policing Internal Security: The Nigeria Police Force Example,” the IGP Disu, who was represented by CP Akwa Ibom, Baba Azare, outlined reforms aimed at making the Nigeria Police Force more professional, accountable and technology-driven.
Disu said the force had strengthened intelligence-led policing, expanded community policing, improved officer training and welfare, enhanced human rights compliance and increased the deployment of digital policing tools, including CCTV surveillance, forensic laboratories, cybercrime investigation platforms, drone technology and artificial intelligence-supported crime analysis.
He also called for stronger collaboration among law enforcement agencies, intelligence services, INTERPOL, AFRIPOL and ECOWAS institutions to address cross-border crime and terrorism.
“Security is everybody’s responsibility, and public trust remains our greatest operational asset,” he said.
Also, the Inspector General of Police of The Gambia, Seedy Touray, urged African nations to strengthen solidarity and coordination in confronting shared security threats.
“The continent has never lacked courage. What it has sometimes lacked is coordination,” Touray said, urging participants to leave Banjul with practical commitments that would strengthen peace, security and cooperation across Africa.
The conference brought together ministers, military officers, police chiefs, diplomats and security experts from across the continent to discuss practical strategies for addressing emerging security threats and strengthening regional security cooperation.
Information Sharing, Intelligence, Key to Fighting Terrorism in W’Africa, Says EFCC
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, has stressed the need for collaboration among anti-corruption institutions in West Africa in the fight against terrorism financial, illicit financial flows and other crimes affecting development in the subregion.
The EFCC chairman gave the charge on Tuesday in Abuja, at the maiden edition of the Leadership Conference of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA).
The leadership conference, according to Olukoyede, was pursuant to the resolution taken during the annual general assembly of NACIWA, held last year in Abuja.
Olukoyede predicated the charge on the grounds that since the corruption environment has changed significantly and criminal networks increasingly operated across borders, such cross border crimes could only be checkmated through effective collaboration among anti-corruption institutions within the African sub region.
“When the founders of NACIWA established the Network, they recognised that corruption does not respect national borders, institutional boundaries or differences in language and legal tradition. They understood that no country, however committed or capable, could confront the problem in isolation.
“Their vision was therefore to create a regional platform that would strengthen cooperation among national anti-corruption institutions, reinforce their capacity and independence, promote strategic reflection, facilitate the exchange of experiences and good practices, and mobilise the political will and resources necessary for an enduring anti-corruption culture in West Africa.
“They envisaged a Network built upon the autonomy of its member institutions, but sustained by their interdependence. They envisaged institutions that would not only investigate and prosecute corruption, but would also learn from one another, establish professional standards, develop common approaches and provide collective leadership for our region,” he said.
Olukoyede disclosed that the maiden NACIWA Leadership Conference was held at the headquarters of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) to underscore an important truth that, the fight against corruption was not peripheral but central to the integration and development of the subregion.
While stating that the corruption environment has changed significantly, with criminal networks operating largely across borders, Olukoyede stressed that, “Our institutions cannot confront twenty-first-century corruption with twentieth-century structures, processes and assumptions.”
According to him, Illicit financial flows move through multiple jurisdictions within seconds, adding that, while digital platforms and emerging technologies create new opportunities for development, they also produce new forms of fraud, concealment, manipulation and financial crime.
“Artificial intelligence is transforming the way information is generated, analysed and deployed. It offers enormous potential for detection, intelligence development, risk assessment and institutional efficiency, but it also raises questions of governance, ethics, accountability, data integrity and organisational readiness,” he said.
He, however, commended NACIWA for putting in place a protocol that allows for exchange of information, cross-border investigation and cross-border support.
Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mr Francis Ben Kaifala, stressed the need for coordination in the fight against corruption in West Africa.
According to him, the subregion needed to put in more efforts and work more together to tackle the scourge of corruption, which is a major problem in West Africa.
“I think one of the things that such conferences does is to bring us together. We share. There is basically a learning and sharing of experiences, so we can bring ours, which includes what we do with naming and shaming, asset recovery, borderless investigation, and things that can help improve the fight against corruption in West Africa, taking the best practices from country to country.
“So, we can take the best from Nigeria, and we also bring our best from Sierra Leone, and everybody benefits at the end of the day”, he said.