IGP Olatunji Disu Chairs 11th Meeting Of INTERPOL West Africa National Central Bureau Heads In Abuja

The meeting was attended by NCB heads from 16 West African nations, along with senior representatives of the INTERPOL General Secretariat and regional security bodies, the statement said.

In his remarks, IGP Disu addressed transnational crime in West Africa, stating that human trafficking networks, arms dealers, drug trafficking groups, cyber fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and violent extremist groups “operate without regard for national borders.”

He said 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,” according to the statement.

IGP Disu outlined steps taken by Nigeria, including the extension of INTERPOL’s I-24/7 secure communications network to border control points and law enforcement institutions nationwide. He said this provides officers at land crossings with access to intelligence.

He also referenced Nigeria’s participation in Project GEMINI, which involves the uploading and verification of INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, and cited the West African Police Information System (WAPIS) as an example of regional data integration.

Looking ahead, he said Nigeria would prioritize three areas: access to INTERPOL’s key databases across West African border systems; coordination mechanisms for joint action; and trust among NCBs to enable information-sharing. “Without that trust… even the most sophisticated systems fall short,” he said, according to the statement.

The leader of the INTERPOL delegation noted Nigeria’s role in hosting the meeting and said the attendance of all 16 NCB heads indicated that “across distances and operational pressures, these agencies had chosen to show up together,” according to the statement.

The delegation encouraged participants to “leave not with intentions, but with commitments capable of being measured” and to focus on “anticipating and disrupting” crime, the statement said.

The meeting of NCB heads is a recurring regional forum for INTERPOL member countries in West Africa to discuss law enforcement cooperation, according to INTERPOL’s General Secretariat.