States consider regional anti-crime body

Interior ministers and police chiefs of members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are soon to meet in Cote d'Ivoire to consider proposals for a regional criminal investigation and intelligence bureau. Police chiefs are due to meet in Abidjan from 23 September as part of efforts to combat cross-border criminal activities, according to a statement from the ECOWAS secretariat in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Wednesday. After police chiefs conclude their deliberations, ministers for internal affairs are to meet on 26 September to consider a draft document on the establishment of a regional crime bureau, the statement said. "The proposal envisages the centralisation and sharing of information among the security services of the sub-region in the prevention, investigation and punishment of those engaged in common law crimes, subject to the national laws of each country," it added. Crimes such as armed robbery and trafficking in illicit drugs, small arms, children and women have been on the increase in the region in recent years. The creation of a regional anti-crime body would assist information on criminal activities and the movement of criminals for the purpose of trailing and intercepting them, according to ECOWAS officials. Special consideration is also to be given to proposals by Ghana on collaboration between the 15 member states on scientific and technical aspects of criminal investigation, they added.