(Representative Image)
Nigerian military ride on their truck as they secure the area where a man was killed by suspected militants during an attack around Polo area of Maiduguri, Nigeria February 16, 2019. Reuters / AFOLABI SOTUNDE

The Federal Government has teamed up with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and West African Police Information Programme (WAPIS) to put an end to Nigeria's insecurity crisis.

Muhammad Dingyadi, the Minister of Police Affairs, announced Tuesday that the West African Police Information System and INTERPOL are prepared to assist Nigeria in securing the nation.

Kavanagh Stephen, Executive Director of Police Services for INTERPOL, was visiting the Ministry's Abuja headquarters at the time. "We are not here to have a nice time. We are here to make sure we understand how WAPIS can support West Africa to share data among security agencies effectively", Stephen said.

He further noted that data is key for understanding the new, increasingly global world of crime that includes armed robbery, banditry, terrorism, and money laundering.

Steven continued by saying that the purpose of his visit is to further solidify the partnership between INTERPOL and the Nigerian Police to help in the battle against crime and terrorism.

"We can use all information from the security, border, and intelligence agencies can bring them together to share more data effectively across the world," he added, as reported by Voice of Nigeria.

Dingyadi stressed that crimes are intricate and vary depending on the locality and that all parties need to work together to solve the problem. He emphasized the importance of cooperation in tackling the issue of insecurity in Nigeria. "We have a lot of criminal issues. We require cooperation from anywhere that will assist us to curb these criminalities", he said, as reported by Daily Post Nigeria.

According to Dingyadi, coordination with organizations like INTERPOL will help increase synergy between these agencies. He noted that the lack of data sharing by sister institutions has hampered data collecting and its use in the country.

He did, however, pledge that the ministry would help INTERPOL in its attempts to support Nigeria and West Africa in their efforts to curb the growing menace of crime in the region.

The crime scene in Nigeria is characterized by political unrest, citizen alienation, terrorism, and violence. The Global Peace Index recently listed Nigeria as one of the countries with the least amount of peace in the world. It ranks as the 18th least tranquil condition. Nigeria is also the sixth nation most impacted by terrorism, according to the Global Terrorism Index.

Furthermore, the country is ranked sixth globally and second in Africa in terms of genocide danger. This risk is impacted by the nation's large population (over 200 million), high infant mortality rate, continuous battle-related fatalities, history of mass killings, and ethnic fragmentation.