President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare open a national conference on ‘Organised Crime In Nigeria And The Gulf Of Guinea,’ on Friday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
Also, the President will flag off construction of the Centre of Excellence and a 100-bed specialist hospital, among other projects of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), in Ogoniland on the same date.
The conference, which is organised by Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), in partnership with Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime and the Resilience Fund, Austria, is due to the spate of crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, kidnapping, banditry, terrorism racketeering, human, drugs and arms smuggling, illegal fishing and sea piracy.
Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Fyneface Dumnamene, in a statement, said the conference would see to the official launching of ‘Network on Organised Crime in Nigeria and Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG).’
Dumnamene said NOCINAG would be a regional platform that contributes to the fight against organised crime in the Gulf of Guinea, thereby, making Nigeria, Angola, Cameroun, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe to be more proactive in the fight against transnational crimes.
He further explained that the conference is aimed at facilitating a collaborative local, national, and regional solution to the menace of organised crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
Dumnamene said: “The conference is imperative to Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea, as it brings together critical national and international stakeholders from the security circle, government agencies, oil companies, policymakers, university circles, members of the diplomatic community, private sector, the media, civil society organisations, and host communities, among others, to brainstorm on strategic ways of collaborating, supporting and working with governments and security formations in tackling organised crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea for safer societies.
“Apart from Buhari, some of the critical stakeholders invited to the conference include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; 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 Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Audi; Coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Barry Ndiomu, Rtd.; Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.”
