By Obiabin Onukwugha
An Advocacy body, Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) says it has submitted its communiqué issued at the end of the National Conference on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NACOCINAG), issued at the end of its conference in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, to President Bola Tinibu, for implementation.
YEAC-NIGERIA also informed the President of the official launch of the Network on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG), which is aimed at mitigating organized crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
The Conference, which was organized by YEAC-Nigeria and supported by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC)/Resilience Fund, Austria, recommended, among others, partnership with other Presidents in the Gulf of Guinea for the establishment of an effective taskforce against organized crime to be known as “Taskforce Against Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (TAOCINAG).”
In a press statement made available to newsmen on Thursday, Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said the 19 recommendations made at the conference has been submitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and copied other relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of Government, the National Security Adviser including the Service Chiefs among many others as their security formations were also part of the conference when it was held.
Fyneface said: “YEAC-Nigeria has been at the forefront of the campaign against pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and pollution, hence it was imperative to submit the communiqué to Mr. President directly as certain recommendations required implementation by the Federal Government, which should also liaise with other countries in the Gulf of Guinea through the Gulf of Guinea Commission to address the menace of organized crime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, and the Gulf of Guinea.”
Recommendations of the Communique, according to the statement included; “The establishment of a Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) proposed by YEAC-Nigeria for the innovation, modernization, standardization, legalization, and integration of artisanal refineries into the national economy as a corresponding organized crime mitigation mechanism for artisanal crude oil refiners in the Niger Delta, like the illegal gold miners in parts of North and Western Nigeria that the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) is established for them to mitigate organized crime in gold mining;
“Immediate issuance of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s approved 18 Modular Refineries licenses for artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta to mitigate organized crime and support sustainable youth empowerment;
“Partnership with other Presidents in the Gulf of Guinea for the establishment of an effective taskforce against organized crime to be known as “Taskforce Against Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (TAOCINAG)”
“A Presidential Directive to the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defense Intelligence, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Inspector General of Police, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), etc. to collaborate with YEAC-Nigeria on the “Network on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG)” as a multi-stakeholder, inter-ministerial, interagency and civil-security relations’ intelligence gathering and sharing platform that generates information, data, intelligence and share with security formations and operatives to strengthen the fight against organized crime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
“Immediate establishment of a Coast-Guard Mechanism to be known as Nigeria Coast and Boarder Guards (NCBG) that collapses all government-private security arrangements into a standby supportive maritime and borderline security mechanism against organized crime especially crude oil theft and illegal bunkering while also working to mitigate the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, among others, to strengthen homeland security efforts.”
Fyneface commended President Tinubu for taking steps within his first 100 days in office to implement aspects of the communiqué through the approval for the review of the proposal for possible integration of artisanal refineries operations into the national economy, which according to him, is the doctrine of PACORDI proposed by YEAC-Nigeria.
Fyneface called on all other stakeholders, including local and international development partners, to support the work, projects, and programmes of YEAC-Nigeria as a think-tank on organized crime mitigation mechanisms in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.