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The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has signed an agreement with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission (ICPC) to tackle corruption in the public sector, and to increase transparency and accountability in addressing environmental crimes in Nigeria.
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Chairman of ICPC, Dr. Musa Aliyu, and Justin Gosling, EIA’s Securing Criminal Justice Programme Lead, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Abuja, to open the door for increased cooperation and information sharing between the two respective organisations.
Aliyu also recognised the importance of addressing corruption within the field of environmental crime, stating, “Environmental crimes such as wildlife trafficking, pollution, and those contributing to climate change pose a major threat to Nigerians and global warming.
“The role of public sector corruption is unacceptable and the ICPC looks forward to cooperating with the EIA to improve our response to this important area of criminal activity.”
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He explained that EIA has been working for almost five years in Nigeria and West and Central Africa, developing the capacity of investigators, raising awareness and understanding among prosecutors and the judiciary, forging relationships with the public and private financial sectors, and assessing a new endangered species legislation, in addition to supporting civil society organisations in the region.
On his part, Gosling said the new partnership was critical to evolving the response to environmental crime in the region, adding, environmental criminal networks are driven by profit and financial gain and the role of corruption in public sectors cannot be underestimated.
“We welcome this groundbreaking agreement with the ICPC and look forward to developing strategies together to address wildlife trafficking and other forms of environmental criminalities,” he said.
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