RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57

TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE ROLE OF
EXTRADITION & MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE TREATIES
Sotonye Leroy Wakama*
I. INTRODUCTION
Transnational organized crime will
without a doubt be the yardstick by which
the performance of governments and theirlaw enforcement agencies will be judged in
the 2lst century. It will also probably posethe most problematic, prolific andpotentially devastating phenomenon everencountered by these institutions in thenormal course of their duties. However,despite the considerable attention that themedia devotes in most countries to street
and organized crime given its audacious,
violent and inimical activities, policy
makers and law enforcement agencies
appear not to have understood the sheer
magnitude of the potential dangers thatthese nefarious acts pose to national
security, the economy and society ingeneral. The issue is all the moreworrisome in the developing world, whichplays host to a number of these criminalorganizations, but as yet has failed to fully
perceive of its dangers.
II. FORM, IMPACT & EFFECTS OFORGANIZED CRIME
Transnational organized crime has
expressed itself in many forms. The
narcotics trade, money laundering, arms
trafficking, in human beings, stolen
vehicles and artifacts, terrorism,
prostitution, international financial fraud,
trade in environmentally dangerous andendangered species, counterfeiting, forgedand stolen travel documents and otherforms. Whichever organized crime or
combination of crimes is adopted, theypotentially have the same debilitating* Nigeria

158

effects on the host and targetedcommunities. All too familiar is thedestructive influence of narcotics, buttrafficking in weapons and human beings,
as well as financial fraud, have an equally
adverse impact on the health and financial
well being of the affected countries. Arms
smuggling could initiate and exacerbate
regional conflicts particularly on the
African Continent and in Eastern Europe
where several skirmishes are on going.
International prostitution andpornography rings have health and social
consequences. The illicit trade inendangered species may well haveenvironmental repercussions. To cap it all,the laundering of monetary profits derived
from these activities substantially
undermines the financial systems and thus
the economies of the affected nations.
The impact of organized crime may varyin differing societies but is likely to be moredevastating in developing societies where
it may supplant or exert considerable
control over the state by filling the gaps inthe provision of social amenities. This has
to some extent also been reflected ininstances where persons of “proven”
criminal background have found their way
into a nation’s legislature. In such
vulnerable environments as is depicted byfragile infant democracies, organized crime
can secure the co-operation of influential
government officials in the legislature,
executive and judiciary to propagate its
ends. It must be realised however, that
there is no government completely immune
to the activities of organized crime, or
justice system that can guarantee control,and certainly no financial systems thatwould not want to benefit from its gains.

114TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
Thus law enforcement agents of every hue
must be open minded and prepared for theconfrontation, which will manifest itself not
only in different forms, but from different
quarters. Nevertheless, for all its forms
and potentials to destabilise governments,
these acts are primarily criminal.

launder funds and thus should also betargeted for assistance in this fight. All
these factors have affected tremendously
the ability of these unwholesome
fraternities to circumvent the various legal
obstacles that may well have hitherto,hindered their growth.

The reasons for the phenomenal“successes” of organized crime are notfarfetched. Like any business enterprise
where there is demand, opportunity,studied and appropriate investment, there
are likely to be returns. Criminal
enterprise is no exception. However, theextraordinary profits accurable toorganized criminal enterprise have further
been enhanced by technologicaladvancements that have reduced the world
to a global village. Communication, travel,
information through computer links andthus knowledge is now available atmoderate expense and the press of a button
to any discerning organization orindividual. With the resulting
globalisation of the world economy
organized crime has assumed new
dimensions. Co-operative ventures
between ethnically diverse criminal groups
have resulted to hitherto unimaginablesuccesses in criminal endeavours. One only
needs to examine the Nigerian scamenterprise to understand this. Other
examples abound. The spectacular profits
derivable from transnational criminal
enterprise are further used in thecommission of a myriad of financial crimes,
in a usually successful attempt to launder
the illegitimate financial resources. The
common denominator in transnationalorganized crimes therefore, is theinvolvement of financial institutions. It
follows therefore that the management ofthese institutions has a crucial role to playin the resolution of this crisis. Non-bankfinancial institutions such as exchange
houses, insurers, brokers, mortgagors,
importers and exporters are also used toIII. REMEDY
From the point of view of policy makers
and law enforcement agents, a thoroughand comprehensive understanding oforganized crime - its characteristics andoperational methods - is crucial. As longas emphasis is placed on its manifestation(usually at the street level), rather than its
all-encompassing and pervasive influenceon the entirety of society, then organizedcrime shall blissfully thrive for long.
Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies
in the developing world particularly, whosecountries play host to a number oftransnational criminal organizations, areleast prepared to combat them. The
existence of these organizations is only
recently being acknowledged. Worst still
however, is the fact that almost all law
enforcement agents especially in the West
African sub-region receive only communitybased police training, and hardly any
specialised training. Crime prevention
strategies are almost exclusively directedto the street level, with little or no attention
or realisation that more damaging activity
exists beyond. The truth unfortunately, isthat many countries that are havens fororganized crime neither have the legal
infrastructure or the law enforcement
capabilities to combat these crimes.
Developing nations like Nigeria for
instance, are further hampered by theirabysmal failure in record keeping. Where
statistics are kept, they can rarely be relied
upon as all too often other considerations
play a role in their compilation. Swings in
the trend and volume of criminal activity

159

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
are recognised through the increase incomplaints and the resulting volume ofwork, rather than the patient recording
and analysis of statistical data. Where
data is recorded and analysed, it is throughthe painstaking and often frustrating
manual method of entry and retrieval.
Furthermore, information on criminal
activity is almost exclusively considered
the preserve of traditional law enforcement
agencies, without the comprehension thatmonetary data is also obtainable from theCentral Bank or Treasury; and that trade
statistics from legitimate corporations andindustries also grant an indication of thecost and extent of organized criminal
activity.
IV. ORGANIZED CRIMINAL
ACTIVITY IN NIGERIA
Nigeria has like most other countries
had its fair share of organized criminal
activity. Thankfully, what activity there iswhen compared to other regions in theworld, is clearly in its infancy. However,as observed above, this has not given room
for complacency as we fully realise ourvulnerability and the potential dangers to
our already struggling economy.
In the course of the last ten years,
organized crime has manifested itself in
Nigeria in the forms of stolen vehicles andartefacts, small-scale arms trafficking, inhuman beings and international
prostitution, forged and stolen travel
documents, and international financial
frauds for which we are perhaps best
known. The recorded cases of terrorism
have since been discovered to be locallymotivated and executed. The cases ofstolen artefacts and vehicles, arms
trafficking, international prostitution andfinancial crimes are presently the mostbothersome. The methods employed in
executing these crimes within Nigeria andthe West African sub-region will now be
briefly examined.
160

Vehicles are stolen off the streets ofNigeria in two principal ways. The firstand less traumatic involves the theft ofunattended cars using skeleton keys and“hot wiring” techniques. The second
method deploys the use of violence andfirearms and often results in injury,
maiming and the loss of life. In both cases,
the stolen vehicles, sometimes in convoy,
are driven across borders to neighbouring
countries where they are either
cannibalised or sold holistically after few
distortions.
The stealing of cultural artefacts whichhave great traditional and in some cases
spiritual value has in recent times been on
the increase. It is postulated that the endusers perhaps find a correlation between
the age of the artefact and its aesthetic
value. For the most part these artefacts
appear to be stolen with the connivance of
security guards and soon thereafter are
smuggled out of the country in ingenious
ways.
Instances of arms trafficking has
generally been isolated and far between.
However, with the recent conflicts along theWest African coast an increased number ofarms have found their way into the country
through methods which suggest careful
but unlawful planning and deliberation.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y, t h e s e w e a p o n s a r e
subsequently used to commit felonious
offences, which result in permanent
impairments, mutilation and death.
In Nigeria, human trafficking andinternational prostitution are virtuallysynonymous. Italy appears to be the prime
target of destination in Europe thoughother countries have had their fair shareof the influx. This particular crime for the
purpose of prostitution will be a bit moredifficult to regulate principally because the“victims” are willing participants to thecrime, who see the enhancement of their

114TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
future in a foreign land through thispractise and the fact that no law against
prostitution exits in Nigeria.
International financial crimes, theAdvance Fee Fraud scam in particular, arewhat Nigerians are perhaps best known for.
The frauds executed by Nigerians, usually
on foreigners in the western world take on
diverse forms. They include, but are notexclusive to, the transfer of funds fromover-invoiced contracts, contract fraud on
goods and services, real estate fraud,currency conversion scams, the sale ofcrude oil scams, etc.
V. EXTRADITION & MUTUALLEGAL ASSISTANCE TREATIES AS
A SOLUTION
If the growth of transnational crimes is
to be stemmed, it is obviously going torequire the co-operation of all countries not
only affected, but also concerned by its
development. However, an understandingof the nature of the crime and its differing
effects on various regions of the world, anddivergent areas within a region must be
appreciated. Attention will naturally focus
on law enforcement but all sectors of society
have a role to play. Law enforcement
agents must be trained however torecognise organized crime, which means adeparture from the more traditional andconservative approaches to crime
resolution. Not only does organized crime
require specialised study and training, it
requires innovative thought, initiative anda disciplined will. Policy makers must also
be ready to devote resources on a par withthose of the criminals, and legislate
appropriately if it is hoped to achieve any
meaningful progress.
A direct response to the growth andmenace of organized crime has been
Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaties, the latter of which is a relatively

recent development. They are primarily
agreements between consenting nations to,on the one hand deliver to justice, persons
within their territories who havereasonably and legally been shown tocommit acts in defiance of the law, and on
the other, grant assistance in the detectionof a crime. The prime objective is toimprove on the effectiveness of judicial
assistance and facilitate its procedures.
Communication in respect of requests for
extradition and legal assistance in Nigeria
is usually between the Federal Attorney
General and Minister of Justice and theCentral Justice Department of the country
involved. The treaties usually take on asimilar form and include agreements
regarding the summons of witnesses,
taking down the testimony of witnesses,
production of documents and records,
locating and identifying persons orevidence, serving documents, executing
requests for searches and seizures,
collection of fines and other forms ofassistance not prohibited by the laws of theparticipating states. Generally, theadvantages of these treaties are only open
to the prosecution (the State); the defence
is required to obtain materials to facilitate
its case under the laws of the host country.
The wording and implementation of thesetreaties however may vary given thenations involved and the type of criminal
activity targeted, or indeed the criminal
who is the subject of investigation.
As stated above, Nigeria is in its infancy
in respect to law enforcement andorganized criminal activity. It has only inthe last ten years entered Mutual
Assistance Treaties with other nations, theratified number of which is not
immediately clear. This list is not however
exhaustive. At the time of writing thisreport the statistics on requests to and by
Nigeria in the last ten years was not
immediately available. However, there is

161

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
a consensus, that very few requests havebeen received. It may be that a greaternumber of requests will now be received
as Nigeria has democratised.
VI. NIGERIA’S EXTRADITIONPOLICIES
Nigeria’s Extradition policies have inprinciple remained the same since 1957,
and include the following:
i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

vi.

The offence for which a fugitive isrequested must not be of a political,
racial or religious nature;
Request must be processed withreasonable evidence of culpability
without which it may be refused.
There must be an assurance thatthe subject will only be tried andpunished if convicted for the offence
stated in the application of therequesting state.
Where the subject is alreadyserving a jail term, he will not be
extradited until the completion of
the sentence.
The fugitive will only be extradited
to the requesting country, which
does not have the right to further“extradite” him to a third country.
T h e r e m u s t b e r e c i p r o c i t y,otherwise Nigeria will not extradite
its citizens to a country, which given
the same facts would not haveextradited their national to Nigeria.

A. Request For Extradition By
Nigeria: Procedure
Before Nigeria makes a request to any
country, the police will conduct a thoroughinvestigation and assemble applicableevidence. On satisfactory completion of theinvestigation, the case will be filed in a
Magistrates Court, and if in the opinion of
the presiding magistrate a prima facie casehas been established, a warrant of arrest

162

against the subject will be issued. The casefile (in duplicate) will then be forwarded to
the Ministry of Justice for vetting, andupon approval, the Minister willcountersign the warrant of arrest and makeformal representation to the country
concerned.
B. Request For Extradition Made to
Nigeria: Procedure
In the case of a request being made to
Nigeria for the surrender of a fugitive, therequesting nation, (if a treaty exists), will
apply for the extradition of the fugitive to
the Federal Attorney General and Ministerof Justice, through the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. After examination of the request,
the Minister of Justice may if he deems it
fit, direct the Inspector General of Police
to ensure the arrest and interrogation of
the fugitive with respect only to theallegation contained in the request. The
suspect will subsequently be arrested andbrought before a Magistrate who will
determine whether there is sufficientevidence to justify his being charged withthe alleged offence. If the magistrate is sosatisfied, the subject will be remanded inprison, and a report sent by the Magistrate
to the Minister of Justice, awaiting adecision as to whether extradition can befulfilled or not. The subject may appeal
provided the appeal is lodged within 7 days.
The subject (depending on the offence inquestion) may also be released on bailaccording to laid down procedures. If his
appeal fails, he must be surrendered within
30 days.
VII. NIGERIA’S POLICIES ON
PROVIDING LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Nigeria has only in the last 15 years
concluded agreements with various nations
on Mutual Legal Assistance in criminal
investigation. In most of these agreements,
there is a common refrain in Nigeria’s

114TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
policies, which include inter alia:i.

That there must be an agreement
on legal assistance with therequesting state.
ii. The object of the request must be
stated. Either the procuring offurther evidence for a suspectalready charged to court or an
exploratory investigation to gather
facts and evidence against an
unidentified suspect. In the caseo f t h e l a t t e r, t h e c r i m i n a lproceedings must be open to appeal.
iii. Precise data on the subject matterand subject will be provided. E.g.
names, dates of birth, profession/
occupation, known addresses,
description/likeness etc.
iv. Where the recording of testimony
or the search and seizure ofproperty is required, an elaborate
questionnaire and description ofevidence is necessary.
v.
An assurance that will be giventhat all evidence and information
obtained regarding the request will
only be used against the suspect in
the allegation stated in the request.
vi . The allegation so stated must not
be of a political, racial or religious
nature.
vii. Requests may be refused if it could
jeopardise the sovereignty, security,
public order or other essential
interests of Nigeria.
A. Types of Assistance Granted
Subject to the terms of the individual
agreements, the following types ofassistance are usually given:
i.
ii .
iii.
iv.
v.

Recording of statements;
Service of documents;
Execution of searches and seizures;
Surveillance physical andelectronic;
Provision of documents or otherrecords;
vi. Collection of fines;
vii. Location and identification ofsuspects;
viii. Other requests formally agreed
upon.
B. Reasons for Rejecting Requests
In some instances, it is necessary to
reject requests. These rejections, few or
non-existent as they may be, are usually
hinged on one of the following:i.

Lack of valid co-operation or
agreement;
ii. The lack of an equivalent offencein Nigerian criminal laws;iii. The offence being of a political,
racial or religious nature;iv. Insufficient evidence;v.
If the requesting nation does not
permit the extradition of its
nationals in similar circumstances;vi . Existence of the death penalty.
VIII. PROCEDURE FOR GRANTINGLEGAL ASSISTANCE
All requests for assistance arecommunicated directly to the Central
Authority (Federal Attorney General and
Minister of Justice) through the Ministryof Foreign Affairs, where they are reviewed
according to the policy guidelines above. If
considered to be within the guidelines, therequest is referred to the Inspector Generalof Police (Head Police Officer) for action.
Assistance is granted only on the issues
requested that are stated specifically. The
Criminal Investigation Department isusually mandated to ensure assistancealthough other departments may assist.
Where appropriate, court orders will beobtained for arrests, searches and Seizures.
Finally, upon compilation of a case file, thefiling of the case in a criminal court, andthe issuance of warrant(s) (whereapplicable), the case diary is referred to the163

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
central authority for final adjudication andrequest.
Where Nigeria wishes to request,
appropriate evidence will be gathered andregistered in a court of competentjurisdiction, which will if it sees fit, issue awarrant for the arrest of the subject. The
file and warrant will then be processed to
the Minister of Justice for further vetting,and upon approval a request will duly bemade by the Minister.
IX. THE STRUCTURE OF THE
CENTRAL AUTHORITYThe Central Authority in Nigeria is the
Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
For the purpose of extradition and legal
assistance requests in criminal matters,
the department of International Law,
headed by a director reviews all requests.
In the department there are several
lawyers who specialise in different aspects
of international law, and are assigned‘’tables”, which indicate the area or countryof their specialisation. The requests arereviewed at this level and referred with
report to the Minister for appropriate
action. In practise, the action of theminister is not entirely unilateral as herefers his decision to the Presidency.
X. CONCLUSION
The fight against organized crime should
be a universal one with all hands on deck.
It should be borne in mind that organizedcrime is not always violent, and quite often
is clandestine in character. It is therefore
difficult to analyse its effects and impact
upon society as for instance would be thecase in money laundering.
Violent
manifestations are easier to analyse, andthe chance of the real threat avoiding
attention is substantially reduced. Proactive measures are necessary to containthis situation. As each region and indeed
country probably has its unique164

characteristics, approaches may differ but
the intent should remain the same. Whatis needed is a holistic approach to the
problem, which should include theelimination of contributing factors, inaddition to dealing with organized crimein a preventive and suppressive manner.
In this regard therefore, the following
suggestions are postulated:i.

Strengthening and transforming
the capacity of the criminal justicesystem to deal with organized crimein terms of making it a more
efficient and effective process;ii. Initiating measures aimed atchanging public values andattitudes towards crime, andinvolving communities in crime
prevention;iii. I m p r o v i n g c o n t r o l a n dmanagement of international
borders to prevent trade in illegal
commodities etc..;
iv. Creating and training specialised
units and border police to handle
organized crime;v.
Legislating against organizedcrime and its proceeds moreaggressively;
vi. I n c l u d i n g o r g a n i z e d c r i m eprevention methods in the
curriculum of Detective Training
Academies;
vii. Encouraging various governmentIntelligence Units to focus onorganized crime as it affects the
security of the state;viii. Increasing co-operation between
security agencies and NonGovernmental Organizations andthe business community;
ix. Strengthening the organizational,
human and financial resources oflaw enforcement departments to
respond to organized crime;
x. Reducing the bottlenecks ininternational co-operation;

114TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
xi.

Entrenching a universal Code of
Ethics/Conduct for law enforcement
agents and civil servants.

The fight against trans-nationalorganized crime is bound to be a difficult
one but not an impossible one. Relianceshould be on cooperation between security
agencies within a country and between
countries. Only when hands are joined incommon intent, mutual determination anddesire will the menace of trans-national
crime be defeated.

165