Greater security thanks to prosecution in line with the rule of law

Context

GIZ has been supporting police reform processes in Africa on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office since 2009. The programme is currently implementing 11 country- and region-specific components. All the selected countries exhibit signs of fragile statehood, although this is manifested in different ways.

Nigeria is facing huge security challenges: high crime rates, transnational organised crime and terrorist activities, especially involving Boko Haram, are destabilising the entire country and region. At the same time, the state institutions have little capacity to successfully fight crime in accordance with the rule of law. Lack of adequate cooperation between institutions along the criminal justice chain is eroding public confidence in the law enforcement agencies.

Objective

Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies and other actors in the criminal justice chain have greater capacity to conduct criminal investigation and prosecution in line with legal requirements in order to ensure public security.

Approach

The project develops all measures in close consultation with the partner institutions and coordinates their needs. The measures are based on existing national or international strategies and observe international human rights standards. All measures take gender equality into account. The project supports the partners in matters of infrastructure and equipment, basic and advanced training, and organisational advice.

The aim is to improve service delivery and cooperation along the criminal justice chain by strengthening investigative capacities and supporting the different types of dialogue between stakeholders. This promotes the rule of law in criminal proceedings – from investigation to possible conviction. The more crimes are solved, the more effective public safety will be. And police legitimacy will be further boosted.

The project reinforces capacity for the provision of basic and advanced training for national actors in the criminal justice system, supports the modernisation and standardisation of forensic and investigative processes and promotes cooperation between state authorities within Nigeria and within regional networks.

Results

The quality of training for Nigeria’s police and the immigration authorities has improved, thanks to the training of trainers and the provision of teaching materials, among other things. To date, a total of 45 Nigerian police trainers have been certified after completing the relevant course. Modernised process descriptions are making the work of the institutions more transparent and making it possible to verify compliance with human rights. The investigative capabilities of the police and public prosecutors have improved, thanks to further training, coordination meetings and the introduction of cooperation standards.