As Central Africa police chiefs confab opens in Y’de: Police boss calls for synergy to strengthen fight against cross border crimes.

This was during the opening ceremony of the technical meeting in prelude to the fourth session of the Council of Heads of Police of Central Africa, and the 24th forum of Ministers responsible for security issues in Central Africa. 

The event is scheduled to take place from September 17-20. It will group heads, and representatives of services in charge of implementing law and order. 

The meeting, Martin Mbarga Nguele said, marks the resumption of on-site activities after a four-year interruption, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Police boss lauded the cooperation of the police in the Sub-region. He said the meeting was an occasion to evaluate the implementation of the recommendation of the 2023 session and suggest solutions. 

He regretted that there has been a surge in the rate of criminality in the Sub-region, citing terrorism, trafficking, theft and cross-border crime. Mbarga Nguele said the fight against such vices must be enhanced at the level of member states and Sub-regional blocs. 

Given contemporary challenges, Mbarga Nguele remarked that: “We have to work together to find a way to face all these challenges. If there's no peace, there's no development. So it concerns all areas. It's going to ensure that Central Africa can enjoy truly lasting peace, and at last be able to move forward…”. 

Enter permanent secretary 

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Central Africa Police Chiefs Committee, CAPCCO, Colonel Esaie Ovono Eyi Mezui, saluted the engagement of Cameroonian authorities against international criminality. 

Colonel Eyi Mezui also heaped praises on President Paul Biya, for authorising the holding of the session in Cameroon.  According to the Permanent Secretary of the CAPCCO, the objective of the meeting is to evaluate the security situation in the Sub-region. 

He said a proper assessment will lead to recommendation that will enable stakeholders take pertinent resolutions to effectively fight against growing criminality.

Colonel Eyi Mezui added that discussions during the confab will also focus on the functioning of CCPACCO conference. Experts, he said, will present a balance sheet of the permanent secretariat, planned activities for 2025, situation of criminality and transboundry crimes and share experiences. 

One of the experts at the confab, the Commander of the National Advanced Police School, Police Commissioner, Tang Enow Lawrence Oben, said the meeting will examine security challenges in Central Africa. 

He said four meetings were planned for yesterday viz; that of Directors of Criminal Investigation Department, directors in charge of combating drugs, heads of National Central bureaus of interpools and the fourth was with frontier police. 

“We are going to evaluate the situation of crimes in the various domains. And they will propose strategies to police Chiefs as to how to best combat the phenomenon of cross border and transnational crimes, even transnational organised crimes,” Police Commissioner Oben stated. 

Commissioner Oben, who on two occasions served as CAPCCO Acting Permanent Secretary and Acting Head of the Regional Bureau of Interpool, sounded positive on the outcome of the confab.

 He situated that: "We are going to examine issues concerning cooperation within the Central African Sub-region, cooperation with West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. We have the police Chiefs of those various regions who are here with some delegations".

This article was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3233 of Wednesday September 18, 2024