The Ghana Police Service and the Nigeria Police Force have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening joint efforts in combating human trafficking and other transnational crimes across West Africa.
This commitment follows a high-level bilateral security meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria, last Friday between the two countries.
It was a follow-up to an initial discussion between Ghana and Nigeria during the INTERPOL Africa Regional Conference in South Africa last August.
The meeting was co-chaired by the Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Lydia Yaako Donkor, and the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of the Nigeria Police Force, Dr Sadiq I. Abubakar.
According to a statement released by the Ghana Police Service, the meeting brought together senior officials from law enforcement, immigration, intelligence, and diplomatic institutions of both countries.
The discussions focused on emerging forms of human trafficking, their growing link with cyber-related crimes, and the need for stronger regional cooperation to address the increasing number of victims in the sub-region.
Joint Task Force
DIG Abubakar commended Ghana’s CID Director-General for her proactive initiative in proposing the meeting, emphasising that such gatherings should become the norm rather than occasional events.
COP Donkor, for her part, expressed appreciation to the Nigerian authorities for their collaboration and reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to intensifying intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement actions.
Both delegations agreed to establish a Joint Task Force (JTF) to handle cross-border trafficking cases, appoint focal officers for real-time information exchange, and develop standard protocols for victim repatriation and referral.
They also resolved to launch joint awareness campaigns targeting youth and border communities, and to convene a high-level meeting of West African Police Chiefs to harmonise regional strategies against human trafficking.
The meeting ended with the signing of a communiqué reaffirming the shared commitment of Ghana and Nigeria to dismantle human trafficking networks, protect victims, and maintain bilateral dialogue under the frameworks of ECOWAS and INTERPOL, the statement added.
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