… Says Increasing Globalisation, New Technologies Worsening Security Situation Worldwide  

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria will continue to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) as much as possible to enable it fulfill its mandate.

Receiving the Nigerian-born President of the ICC, Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji at the State House, Abuja on Friday, President Buhari appealed to developed countries to take the ICC “more seriously in order to strengthen the rule of law and democracy.”

Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said “The ICC provides a moral strength for victims to receive justice against internal and external injustice.”

He also commended Judge Eboe-Osuji for the achievements of the ICC under his presidency.

Earlier, the ICC President had congratulated President Buhari on his re-election and successful inauguration for a second tenure.

He also lauded the Nigerian leader’s “strong and unambiguous statement in support of the rule of law” and for the Court and its principles during his visit to the headquarters of the ICC in The Hague last July.

Judge Eboe-Osuji appealed to President Buhari to continue to support the ICC, and to urge African leaders whose countries have not ratified the Rome Statute which established the Court to do the needful

Meanwhile, President Buhari says there’s a nexus between the increasing globalization and advent of new technologies and the worsening security situations across the world.

He made the remark on Friday while delivering his opening remarks at the Munich Security Conference in Abuja.

Buhari said; “With the advent of globalization and new technologies bringing nations and peoples closer, and creating new opportunities of interaction and trade, comes significant issues of security.

“We can see through the increasing number of evil actors, especially perpetrators of organized crime who profit from the illicit flows of assets out of the African continent.”

He also pointed out that the challenges posed by illicit outflows of resources have increased in recent years with attendant sophistication due to the fast pace of technological advancement.

“Illicit flows have further fuelled terrorism and the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.” he added

He said that the West African sub-region is not only a victim of Illicit financial flows but also of human trafficking, arms and drugs trade with dire consequences on the wellbeing of its people and on national security.

He said “It is common knowledge that illicit flows compound the problems of corruption and impede efforts towards sustainable economic growth.

“This is why, I will continue to take decisive action to fight corruption and confront insecurity especially in the border areas.

“In addition, relevant agencies have also been mandated to work towards strengthening regional and international partnership to address these threats,” he said.

To effectively combat illicit flows, Buhari said that it is necessary that the nations collectively bring adequate resources and reinforce capabilities to address transnational organized crime since no government can do it alone.

He went on; “I am aware that one of the key facilitators of transnational organized crime including illicit flows is the porous nature of our borders.

“This is a major challenge to our region. In this context, we will continue to count on the support of our international partners for new technologies to effectively police our borders.

“Here in the West African sub-region we have taken important steps to address some of our security concerns through improved political governance as contained in the relevant regional mechanisms of ECOWAS, which I currently have the privilege of chairing.” he stated

The launching of the Munich report on the eve of the ECOWAS Summit, he said, offers a unique opportunity to bring together decision-makers and experts to discuss new cooperation approaches to counter the challenges of illicit flows and other transnational crimes.