The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, has assured that efforts are in top gear to extend INTERPOL's communications network to border control points and law enforcement institutions across Nigeria. The expansion will allow officers at land crossings to have the same real-time access to critical intelligence as those at headquarters.
Addressing Regional Security Challenges
Speaking at the 11th meeting of INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) Heads in Abuja, the IGP called for a unified West African front against transnational crime. The gathering brought together NCB heads from 16 West African nations, along with senior representatives of the INTERPOL General Secretariat and regional security bodies. The meeting also acknowledged environmental threats confronting the West African sub-region.
According to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Anthony Placid, the IGP emphasized that human trafficking syndicates, arms dealers, drug networks, cyber fraudsters, money launderers, terrorist financiers, and violent extremist groups all operate without regard for national borders. He stressed that the region's success depends not on any single country's efforts, but on the speed and quality of partnerships forged across all sixteen member states.
Nigeria's Concrete Steps
On Nigeria's part, IGP Disu outlined concrete steps already underway, including extending INTERPOL's I-24/7 secure communications network to border control points and law enforcement institutions nationwide. He reaffirmed Nigeria's commitment to Project GEMINI, which involves the systematic uploading and verification of INTERPOL's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database. He also pointed to the West African Police Information System (WAPIS) as evidence of what regional data integration, pursued with purpose, can achieve.
Three Key Priorities
Looking ahead, the IGP committed Nigeria to three priorities: ensuring universal access to INTERPOL's key databases across West African border architecture; building coordination mechanisms that enable joint action within hours, not weeks; and investing in the trust and transparency among NCBs that makes meaningful information-sharing possible. Without that trust, he observed, even the most sophisticated systems fall short.
International Recognition
The leader of the INTERPOL delegation acknowledged Nigeria's investment in hosting the meeting and drew attention to the full attendance of all sixteen NCB heads, signifying that despite distances and operational pressures, these agencies had chosen to show up together. He challenged participants to leave not with intentions, but with commitments capable of being measured, and to carry into their daily operations a shift from reacting to crime after the fact, to anticipating and disrupting it before harm is done.
The 11th NCB Heads Meeting reaffirms Nigeria's place at the centre of West African security cooperation and reflects a Force leadership that understands policing in the twenty-first century as an inherently collective endeavour.
