The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says the National Crime Management System-West African Police Information System (NCMS-WAPIS) will strengthen the security architecture of Sierra Leone.
The regional bloc made this known at the inauguration of the data collection and registration centre in Freetown, the country’s capital.
By improving collection, analysis and interchange of information among national and international security bodies, including the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), the WAPIS aims to enhance the capacity of West African countries to fight criminal threats.
Funded by the European Union (EU), through the ECOWAS, the WAPIS objective is to build an effective national, regional and international response to national, regional and international criminal threats, including transnational organised crime and terrorism.
It also aims to create national police data systems in each ECOWAS member state, including two non-ECOWAS states: Mauritania and Chad.
At the regional level, the WAPIS system is expected to facilitate the sharing of data between member states; while at the international level, beneficiary countries will have the opportunity to exchange police data via INTERPOL secure communication system.
‘It will serve as a catalyst for security integration and interagency collaboration in the country, by bringing together all the security apparatus into the process of collection, storage and sharing of criminal data at national, regional and global level’, ECOWAS said in a statement.
‘The centre will promote the sharing of criminal data in realtime, thereby supporting the investigation of major crimes and the frontline officers in dealing with the movement of persons and goods at the border crossing points’.
In West Africa, organised criminal activities take the form of drug trafficking, human trafficking, advanced fee and Internet fraud.
Data from the African Union (AU) shows that porous borders, uncoordinated state security agencies, weak collaborative efforts and legal regulatory frameworks are the specific challenges that stop ECOWAS member states from clamping down on organised crime.
Additional data from INTERPOL also shows that the threat organised crime poses in West Africa is substantial, yet there is limited capacity amongst law enforcement to manage the issue.
The United Nations (UN) had warned that Sierra Leone was increasingly being used by drug traffickers as a transit-point for drugs bound for Europe from Latin America.
The Head of the Political Section of the EU delegation, Juan Antonio Frutos, said that the WAPIS will also boost efforts and cooperation against threats from maritime crimes like piracy and other illicit activities off the coast of West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.
‘We encourage the Sierra Leonean authorities to keep this WAPIS system as a priority of the national security strategy, and to take steps to ensure the sustainability of the WAPIS system’, Frutos added.
WAPIS data centres are already operational in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and The Gambia.
Source: ECOWAS
Photo source: ECOWAS
