Senior West African officials receive training to combat terrorism

Thirty-seven senior police and other law enforcement officials from West Africa are being trained to play their part in combating terrorism.

They include prosecutors, police personnel, customs officials and representatives of national agencies for financial investigations from Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

These officials are being trained in preventing, investigating and prosecuting terrorist offences at a five-day Commonwealth workshop in Accra, Ghana.

Winifred Sarpong, a prosecutor from Ghana who is attending the workshop, said it was the first time that she had been exposed to in-depth knowledge on how terrorists operate and how their networks are financed.

David Fraser, Acting Head of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Criminal Law Section, noted that terrorism is a true global threat and that “insecurity anywhere is insecurity everywhere because of its boomerang effect”.

“West Africa has the realities of porous borders, high cash-based economies, concentrations of valuable minerals and the challenges of monitoring the movement of goods and money. This can create an environment which is fertile for those who want to pursue or support terrorist activities,” he said.

The course covers areas such as terrorism financing, investigating terrorist acts, legal issues in terrorism cases, handling hostage cases, mutual legal assistance, human rights and working with the media in a terrorist incident.

It emphasises the importance of international co-operation and communication in the sharing of intelligence and evidence.

The Secretariat has been helping member countries across its regions with training in this area since being mandated by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2002 to develop a programme to assist law enforcement officials to prevent and combat terrorism.

The Secretariat has also published a detailed Counter-Terrorism Training Manual, employed consultants to assist some states to draft counter-terrorism legislation, and drafted model counter-terrorism legislation and implementation kits.

Secretariat Links:

• Law
• Country Profile: Ghana