28 April 2016 - The European Union has committed 4.5 million euros for an 18-month technical assistance programme focused on supporting Nigeria to bring terrorists to justice and to prevent terrorist acts, through human rights-compliant criminal justice measures against terrorism. The project will be implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in partnership with the Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Security Council's Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED).
This initiative builds on a recently-concluded 1.7 million euro European Union-funded EU-Nigeria-UNODC-CTED partnership programme which provided specialized training to some 750 Nigerian officials, including in-depth training to select groups of Nigerian investigators, legal advisors, and prosecutors.
It will also build on previous phases of UNODC's counter-terrorism technical assistance programme funded by Denmark, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
The new partnership programme will focus on further strengthening the capacity of Nigerian criminal justice officials to effectively investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate terrorism cases, in accordance with the rule of law and human rights.
The programme will partner with the Department of State Services, Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal High Court, National Judicial Institute, National Planning Commission, Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Bar Association, and Office of National Security Adviser to deliver in-depth training and on-going advisory support.
The EU, UNODC and CTED welcome their renewed partnership with Nigeria as an important step in global efforts against terrorism.