The acting Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Baba has said the newly commissioned West African Police Information System (WAPIS) Centre would fast track fight against crimes in the country.
Baba stated this, Wednesday, during the commissioning of the WAPIS Centre situated at the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) office, Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The Police boss disclosed that the establishment of WAPIS Data Collection and Recording (DACORE) Centre in Nigeria was part of efforts by the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force to galvanise a multinational front and sustain international collaboration and partnership with police organisations across the world.
According to the IGP, the Centre would ensure effective intelligence sharing in combatting security challenges including terrorism, violent extremism, kidnapping, piracy, armed conflict, illicit flow of small arms and light weapons, human trafficking, illicit trade of drugs among other prevailing and emerging security threats in Nigeria, the West African sub-region and the global community.
He further assured that the WAPIS Centre Nigeria would be effectively utilized for coordinated collection, storage and real-time sharing of criminal data, movement of persons and goods, and border security, for prompt crime detection, prevention, prosecution, rehabilitation and projection.
Commissioning the centre, the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammadu Dingyadi, said the Centre would promote inter-agency collaboration through the sharing of criminal and administrative data that would help improve and strengthen the security architecture of the country, the West African region and the world at large.
He noted that the Centre would provide an integrated platform for national, regional and global police data exchange.
This is as he gave assurances that the Centre would address security threats including transnational organised crimes and terrorism in ECOWAS member states and Mauritania.
Also speaking, the Secretary General of INTERPOL, who was represented by the Executive Director, Partnership and Programmes, INTERPOL, Mr. Carl Alexandre, emphasized the importance of effective police information exchange within the African region, as well as between the region and the rest of the world through INTERPOL secure communication channel.
Similarly, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, who was represented by EU Deputy Head of Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Alexandre Borges Gomes, stressed the need for the digitisation of Police services to improve the quality and transparency of police officers in the fight against crimes.
On her piaer, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, who was also represented by the Vice-President of the Commission, Mrs Finda Koroma, noted that one of the main challenges in fighting transnational organised crime was the lack of appropriate infrastructure to collect, store, manage, analyse and share data among law enforcement agencies.
She expressed optimism that the WAPIS Data Collection and Recording Centre would help address the challenge.
Other dignitaries at the programme included the Chairman, Police Service Commission, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Director General of NAPTIP, Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, who was represented by DCG CW Adepoju and other heads of security agencies among others.
WAPIS data centre’ll fast track fight against crimes says IGP
