Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi says the International Criminal Police Investigation (INTERPOL) is the best agency to track criminal activities in view of its global outreach.

Dingyadi said this in Abuja at the opening of the Nigeria INTERPOL week, saying the event was initiated to bring to the public, the INTERPOL tools and resources to familiarise operatives with their usage.

He described the hosting of the event in Nigeria as unique being the first time the country would host the event.

According to him, crime is growing very sophisticated and transnational, with organised criminal groups committing crimes that touch multiple jurisdictions.

Dingyadi said Nigeria was facing series of security challenges, ranging from terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, trafficking in arms and other illicit activities.

He said the re-creation of Ministry of Police Affairs was to give special attention to police issues and reposition the force for better service delivery.

“The ministry under my direction will work with the Inspector General of Police to ensure the necessary tools and equipment needed by the police is secured to take policing to the next level.

“We will also work with other agencies and international partners to ensure that the Nigeria police become a model in law enforcement in the region.

“We will also work at improving the welfare of policemen to boost their morale for greater productivities and efficiency,” he said.

In his remark, Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu, said the police would step up collaborative efforts in tackling border crimes.

Adamu said new strategies and enduring partnerships were necessary to tackle security challenges.

“The signing of the African Free Trade Agreement within the ECOWAS framework will present new sets of security threats in the West African Sub-Region.

“In view of this, we need to step up our collaborative efforts, devise new strategies and build enduring partnerships to contain them.

“It is our expectation that this concern shall form part of our discourse during the 2019 INTERPOL Week,” he said.

He said the Nigeria INTERPOL National Central Bureau had maintained Criminal databases in information processing and sharing.

“These include the I24/7 database which is currently being expanded under the Project Gemni with support of the American Government and West African Police Information System (WAPIS) Criminal Data Base.

“These projects are supporting our efforts towards combating cybercrimes, drugs and human trafficking, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, armed robbery, car-jacking, fraud, environmental crimes, kidnapping for ransom, violent extremism, and terrorism,” he said.

NAN reports that the event also featured the foundation laying ceremony for the Nigerian Police Force INTERPOL National Central Bureau Headquarters.