President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intensify collaborative efforts to tackle the growing threat of cross-border crimes across the region. Speaking at a recent high-level regional security forum in Abuja, President Tinubu warned that insecurity fueled by transnational criminal activities poses a serious threat to the region’s stability, development, and integration.
In his remarks, Tinubu emphasized the need for a unified regional strategy to combat a surge in crimes such as arms trafficking, cybercrime, vehicle theft, and human smuggling activities he described as “undermining peace, destabilizing economies, and weakening our collective future.”
“The era of isolated national responses must end,” Tinubu declared. “We must act as one to protect our people, our borders, and our sovereignty.”
To facilitate this, Tinubu announced that Nigeria is making its National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) available as a shared facility for ECOWAS member states to strengthen capacity-building, intelligence coordination, and joint training.
The Nigerian president also advocated for the harmonization of legal frameworks across member countries to enable more effective prosecution of cross-border crimes, particularly those related to terrorism financing, cyber fraud, and transnational smuggling.
“A criminal who exploits the gaps in our systems must not find safe haven in any of our countries,” he said. “Our laws must be aligned, and our enforcement seamless.”
Tinubu’s remarks come amid rising concerns over insecurity in parts of West Africa, particularly in the Sahel region where armed groups, bandits, and smuggling networks operate across porous borders. Recent attacks in Nigeria’s north and persistent instability in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have underscored the need for coordinated action.
He urged ECOWAS to move beyond declarations and adopt practical mechanisms such as:
• A joint regional criminal intelligence database
• Interoperable border surveillance technologies
• Standardized extradition protocols
• Cybercrime response units across national police services
While some member states have begun bilateral and trilateral security agreements, Tinubu insisted that only a united regional framework can truly disrupt the networks that operate across multiple jurisdictions.
The Nigerian leader’s appeal was well-received by several regional heads of state, with discussions already underway to establish a formal ECOWAS Task Force on Transnational Crime.
As the region grapples with economic and political pressures, President Tinubu’s call adds urgency to the need for solidarity, noting that “security is the foundation upon which everything else rests from trade to governance to prosperity.”
