The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) and the Federal Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FMoJ) signed a Working Arrangement to strengthen cooperation on Transnational Organised Crime in November 2023. Now, Eurojust has visited Nigeria to discuss the implementation of the Arrangement.
Speaking at a High-Level Meeting, the follow-up to the Working Arrangement held in Abuja, the Vice-President of Eurojust (European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation), Mr José de la Mata Amaya, expressed the need for mutual commitment to work together on this complex phenomena. He further noticed that crime is borderless, and as such would require effective collaboration among states and agencies to put criminals behind bars.
The meeting, hosted by the EU Delegation, had in attendance the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, Nigerian Solicitor General, Beatrice Jedy Agba, the EU Member States Ambassadors, and representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The High-Level Meeting will open dialogue towards a better understanding of the EU, its Member States, and the Nigerian legal systems, identify challenges and areas where collaboration can deepen or become more effective.
“Nigeria needs the support and assistance in the cases with the member states of the European Union, and indeed the member states of the European Union also need to strengthen and to enhance their cooperation with the authorities of Nigeria,” de la Mata said.
“We meet today to know better each other, to define which best practises are to enhance this cooperation, to identify also challenges, issues or problems that may exist in the member states where we are assisting the Nigerian authorities, but also in Nigeria where they assist the member states.
“And the main aim of this endeavour will be to improve the number of cases that we have together, because that will mean that we are providing more assistance to the judges and prosecutors in the member states and also in Nigeria when it comes to their trans-border investigations.”
“We have reached a conclusion and we know for sure that if you wanted to do something, you can do it alone, but if you wanted to go farther, you have to go in a team. And that’s what we want to achieve with this working arrangement, to work like a team, respecting of course all the international conventions, multilateral and bilateral, that are in place when it comes to international legal cooperation, and respecting of course the guarantees and rights of the person under investigation, but together as a team, as colleagues, doing that we will achieve a criminal justice goal that is finally our very common goal,” he added.
Meanwhile, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, expressed the joint willingness of Nigeria, the EU and its Member States, and the UN agencies to fight transnational organised crime in a more coordinated and efficient way.
He thanked the UNODC, which has been very instrumental in helping to start this cooperation and also facilitating the implementation of the Working Arrangement.
The Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Beatrice Jeddy-Agba, further stated:
“This arrangement is primarily aimed at strengthening our joint efforts against transnational organised crimes, with particular focus on enhancing seamless judicial cooperation across international borders in the interest of international criminal cases.”
“We hope that this will broaden our collective vision and illuminate pathways for reinforced cooperation in international criminal justice matters between Nigeria and the European Union.
“We hope also that we are able to achieve our goal of practically implementing the working arrangement, hoping that it operates smoothly and efficiently for the effectiveness of tackling criminal activities between Nigeria and Europe, among others,” she added.
Eurojust is an agency of the European Union for international legal cooperation in criminal matters and is composed of judges and prosecutors whose task is to provide assistance, support, and facilitate criminal cases and investigations handled by judges and prosecutors in EU Member States.
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