PRESS RELEASE: President Buhari to Declare Open, the National Conference on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf Of Guinea in Port Harcourt on Friday, April 28
PRESS RELEASE
APRIL 24, 2023
President Buhari to Declare Open, the National Conference on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf Of Guinea in Port Harcourt on Friday, April 28
President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR will by 10AM on Friday, April 28, 2023 declare open, the National Conference on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea as he arrives Rivers State to flag-off the construction of Centre of Excellence and a-100 Bed Specialist Hospital among other projects of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Ogoniland.
The Conference which is organised by the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) in partnership with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) and the Resilience Fund, Austria holds at Land Mark Hotel, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The event will also see to the official launching of the “Network on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG)”, a regional platform that contributes to the fight against organized crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea thus making Angola, Cameroon, Congo, DR. Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe being the Gulf countries of focus to be more proactive and not just reactive in the fight against transnational organized crimes.
The conference is imperative to Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea as it brings together critical national and international multi-stakeholders from the security circle, government agencies, oil companies, policymakers, university circles, members of diplomatic community, the organized private sector, the media, civil society organizations and host communities among others to brainstorm on strategic ways of collaborating, supporting and working with governments and security formations in tackling organized crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea for safer societies.
Some of the critical stakeholders also invited to the conference include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor; Chief of Army Staff, Leut. Gen. Farouk Yahaya; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo; Commandant General of NSCDC, Ahmed Audi; Coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Barry Ndiomu, Rtd., the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.
Others include National Security Adviser, HYPREP Project Coordinator, Comptroller General of Customs, Director General of NAPTIP, Managing Directors of indigenous/multinational oil companies (SPDC, NOAC/Eni, Halliburton, NLNG, Total E&E Ltd, etc.), Heads of NOA, NDLEA, NDDC, EFCC, NCDMB, DSS, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, NNPC Ltd, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Petroleum Resources, ECOWAS, Gulf of Guinea Commission, etc.
Nigeria is one of the countries in the Gulf of Guinea facing challenges associated with organized domestic and transnational crimes. These organized crimes manifest in the form of pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refining, illegal bunkering, kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, racketeering, cybercrimes, human trafficking, drugs/arms smuggling; Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in the Gulf of Guinea, sea pirates, other fraudulent activities and environmental crimes including illegal logging.
The Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface said “the Conference is aimed at facilitating a collaborative local, national and regional solution to the problem of organized crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. On behalf of myself, the YEAC-Nigeria and partner organizations, I welcome Mr. President and his entourage to Rivers State and the National Conference on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea”.
Signed:
FYNEFACE DUMNAMENE FYNEFACE,
Executive Director, YEAC-Nigeria.
24-04-2023.
