Director General of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, Dr. Abdullahi Shehu has called on countries of the West African region to deepen technical cooperation and expertise in the fight against terrorism in the region.
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| Dr Shehu |
Dr. Shehu said this in New York while addressing the meeting of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) as part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001).
Resolution 1373 requires all States to take a series of measures to counter terrorism. These include securing borders, tightening financial controls and cooperating with other countries to ensure terrorists are brought to justice.
According to Dr. Shehu, there are still weaknesses and gaps related to deficiencies in the national legal framework and inadequate national coordination and collaboration between competent authorities. He noted that some ECOWAS Member States do not have laws which adequately criminalize terrorist financing, and where such laws exit, there was little or no regulation or procedure in place to ensure appropriate freezing, seizure and confiscation of terrorist funds.
He further said that there was lack of regional and international cooperation as inter-country operational cooperation is still being forged at a slow pace even though political and policy direction on AML/CFT has been achieved in the region.
