The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) has said an organised task force, a Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative and coast guards are some of the solutions to curbing crime in Nigeria and in the Gulf of Guinea.

The solutions contained in a communique submitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by YEAC-Nigeria, also suggested that the issuance of 18 modular refineries as approved by the previous administration and partnership with other countries in the Gulf of Guinea will go a long way in checking the situation.

The communique followed a National Conference on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NACOCINAG), and the official launch of the Network on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG, organized by YEAC-Nigeria in Port Harcourt, with supports from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and Resilience Fund, Austria.

Executive Director of YEAC Nigeria, Mr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said the solutions contained in the 19 recommendations submitted to President Tinubu and relevant MDAs if implemented, will mitigate organized crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.

Fyneface said, YEAC-Nigeria has been at the forefront of the campaign against pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and pollution, hence it was imperative to submit the communiqué to the President directly as certain recommendations required implementation by the federal government.

The recommendations are, “The establishment of a Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) proposed by YEAC-Nigeria for the innovation, modernization, standardization, legalization, and integration of artisanal refineries into the national economy as a corresponding organized crime mitigation mechanism for artisanal crude oil refiners in the Niger Delta, like the illegal gold miners in parts of North and Western Nigeria that the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) is established for them to mitigate organized crime in gold mining.

“Immediate issuance of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s approved 18 Modular Refineries licenses for artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta to mitigate organized crime and support sustainable youth empowerment.

“Partnership with other Presidents in the Gulf of Guinea for the establishment of an effective taskforce against organized crime to be known as “Taskforce Against Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (TAOCINAG)”.

“A Presidential Directive to the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defense Intelligence, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Inspector General of Police, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), etc. to collaborate with YEAC-Nigeria on the “Network on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG)” as a multi-stakeholder, inter-ministerial, interagency and civil-security relations’ intelligence gathering and sharing platform that generates information, data, intelligence and share with security formations and operatives to strengthen the fight against organized crime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.

“Immediate establishment of a Coast-Guard Mechanism to be known as Nigeria Coast and Border Guards (NCBG), that collapses all government-private security arrangements into a standby supportive maritime and borderline security mechanism against organized crime especially crude oil theft and illegal bunkering while also working to mitigate the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, among others, to strengthen homeland security efforts.”

While commending President Tinubu for reviewing the proposal for the possible integration of artisanal refinery operations into the national economy, which is the doctrine of PACORDI proposed by YEAC-Nigeria, Fyneface called on the President to establish the Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) as the blueprint and ideas required for its effective take-off were already set out by YEAC-Nigeria.

He also called on all other stakeholders, including local and international development partners, to support the work, projects, and programs of YEAC-Nigeria as a think tank on organized crime mitigation mechanisms in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, and the Gulf of Guinea.

Group sends solution to organized crime in Gulf of Guinea to Tinubu