Nigeria’s Anti-graft Agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), will be granted access to the database of the International Police (Interpol) which will be utilised in profiling Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), money laundering, and illicit financial flows suspects.
The Chairman of the ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, disclosed this in Lyon, France, at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the international police and ICPC, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC and other law enforcement agencies in Nigeria.
The Nigerian delegation to Interpol was made up of top officials of the National Central Bureau Abuja (NCBA), Nigeria Police, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) and the ICPC.
Under the MoU signed with Interpol, the Nigerian law enforcement agencies will have unrestricted access to global criminal databases.
At the meeting, the ICPC boss discussed how the anti-corruption agency and Nigeria could take advantage of the Interpol database in profiling suspects.
“The Commission will develop the habit of issuing notices, especially on high profile suspects. Such notices will be seen globally on PEPs in particular,” Prof. Owasanoye said.
The ICPC Chairman also disclosed that the Commission would join the Global Focal Point Network coordinated by Interpol as part of measures to tighten the noose around corrupt and criminal persons.
The Interpol is expected to support the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria through the strengthening of information sharing, utilization of the organisation’s database of global suspects, and prevention of incursion and influx of migrant terrorist fighters into Nigeria.
The Interpol briefed the Nigerian delegation on Operation Gemini, a special project focusing on trans-border organised crime involving migration, human trafficking, drug trafficking corruption, and financial crimes.
Special sessions
The international police also held special sessions with the delegation which were devoted to international and regional cooperation in law enforcement, operational methods of Interpol and strategies for data and informational sharing, Interpol policing capabilities, role of the National Central Bureau (NCB) in Nigeria, and Nigeria Border Management strategies, integration of Nigeria Law Enforcement Databases with Interpol NCB.
It is expected that this fresh collaboration will boost the capacity of law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to fulfill their mandates.
Olusola Akintonde
