Abuja: Nigeria has unveiled a five-year National Strategy for Combating Organised Crime aimed at dismantling criminal networks, disrupting illicit financial flows, and strengthening inter-agency response. The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, represented by the National Coordinator of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, announced the strategy on Monday.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Ribadu stated that the strategy, covering 2027 to 2031, would provide an integrated framework to address terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, cybercrime, maritime crime, corruption, and illicit financial flows. He emphasized that the sophistication of criminal networks required not only institutional strength but also coherence, coordination, and intelligence-driven collaboration across all relevant sectors.
Ribadu highlighted the interconnected nature of organised crime, which undermines development, economic growth, and public safety. He noted that the strategy adopted a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, with stronger inter-agency cooperation and enhanced collaboration with international partners. Ministries, departments, and agencies involved in the implementation were urged to maintain the cooperation that produced the strategy.
The NSA assured that the Office of the National Security Adviser would support implementation through intelligence fusion, operational synergy, and strengthened coordination. He applauded the Technical Working Group for their consultations, drafting, review, and validation of the strategy.
UNODC Country Representative in Nigeria, Mr Cheikh Tour©, pointed out that organised crime had evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem capable of exploiting institutional gaps and operating across national boundaries. He stressed the need for the strategy to translate into practical action, cautioning that national strategies often falter in implementation rather than drafting.
Tour© described organised crime as a tax on development, investment, and public confidence in institutions. He urged Nigeria to boost domestic investment in law enforcement and justice institutions, asserting that international assistance should complement, not replace, national commitment. He emphasized that the real test of this strategy would be its impact across communities throughout Nigeria by 2031.
U.S. Director, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Mr Tolliver Derrick, acknowledged the strategy as a milestone in the law enforcement partnership between Nigeria and the United States. He remarked that organised crime and terrorist financing were increasingly interconnected threats that necessitate collaborative efforts between countries.
Derrick stated that the U.S. would support Nigeria in building capacity to disrupt criminal networks, trace illicit financial flows, and strengthen cooperation with international law enforcement organisations. He highlighted that preventing illicit financial transfers and related cybercrime were shared problems that require shared solutions.
Mr Sa’ad Abubakar, National Coordinator of the National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCCC-ONSA), identified implementation and information sharing as critical to the strategy’s success. He praised the strategy for assigning implementation responsibilities to specific agencies, noting that such clarity would address one of the major weaknesses of previous national strategies. Abubakar affirmed NCCC-ONSA’s commitment to executing the strategy, particularly in enhancing the response to cybercrime, marking the beginning of a more coordinated national effort to dismantle criminal networks and protect Nigerians from organised crime.