The Federal Government has called on world leaders to strengthen international cooperation as part of efforts to successfully combat terrorism and drug trafficking and other forms of crimes.
These were the positions presented by Nigeria at the ongoing conference of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice taking place in Vienna, Austria.
The Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, presented Nigeria’s positions on items 6C and 7 at the meeting on May 19 and May 20.
A statement by the agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Friday in Abuja, said Marwa urged nations to deepen cooperation and strengthen the processes of combating the financing of terrorism.
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Marwa noted that while prevention of terrorists from benefitting from ransom payments was crucial, it was also important for them not to overlook the trafficking in illicit drugs.
He said, “It is also imperative to keep an eye on, and control the proliferation of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and other substances of abuse that serve as conflict multipliers leading to escalation of both the scope and intensity of violent activities.
“And substances of abuse that serve as conflict multipliers leading to escalation of both the scope and intensity of violent activities.
“Nigeria is also worried about the existing and growing links between terrorism and other forms of crime such as corruption, illicit financial flows, money laundering, illicit trafficking in drugs, cybercrime, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
“We, therefore, call on states to strengthen international cooperation to combat these links by providing information, intelligence sharing, mutual legal assistance, logistics support and military cooperation and other forms of technical assistance.
“This is to enhance the capacity of security personnel to combat this new and ugly phenomenon,” he said.
Marwa said as nations renewed their desire to improve international cooperation to address all forms of crimes, Nigeria urged all states, once again, to make sincere efforts to address the root causes.
