The Director-General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, has called for stronger governance systems, innovative security strategies and evidence-based policies to address the growing nexus between crime, illicit economies and instability in Nigeria.
Ochogwu made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during a one-day roundtable organised by the IPCR in collaboration with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.
In his opening remarks, Ochogwu described the dialogue as both timely and urgent, noting that organised crime and illicit economies had continued to fuel insecurity across the country.
“Across our nation, we have witnessed how organised crime and illicit economies, whether in arms trafficking, resource smuggling, drug trade, or human trafficking intersect with communal violence and insurgency. These dynamics not only undermine governance and economic stability but also erode social cohesion and deepen insecurity at the community level,” he said.
He added that understanding the link between crime and conflict was critical to developing effective peacebuilding strategies and strengthening national resilience.
According to him, there is a need to examine emerging findings from field research and data-driven analyses conducted by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.
“As the nation’s think tank, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution remains steadfast in its mission to provide research, policy advisory, direct interventions in conflict prevention, resolution, and management to government and other peacebuilding actors, as well as promote dialogue, build resilience, and support evidence-based strategies for sustainable peace,” he said.
Ochogwu explained that the research findings were expected to support decision-making by policymakers and security agencies through initiatives such as the Global Crime Index, the Illicit Hub Mapping Initiative, baseline studies on synthetic drugs and cocaine, and the ECO-SOLVE programme.
Speaking with journalists after the event, Ochogwu said the partnership between IPCR and GI-TOC was aimed at disseminating research findings to relevant government institutions and stakeholders involved in crime prevention and conflict management.
“We are here today as a result of a very interesting research that was conducted by the Global Initiative on Transnational Organised Crime on crime and conflict link in Nigeria, illicit economies and how illicit economies are driving instability in the country. So it’s a nexus between crime, conflict and the illicit economy. How people and some groups are profiting from issues around crime and conflict,” he said.
On measures needed to curb illicit markets and criminal activities, Ochogwu stressed the importance of strengthening governance at the grassroots level, arguing that local institutions must play a central role in crime prevention and conflict management.
“Every crime has what we call the demand and supply continuum. Once you have a high level of population and that population too has some level of wealth in spite of the poverty that we talk about, the tendency for crimes to be sustained is there.”
He linked the rising insecurity to governance deficits and increasing pressure on Nigeria’s internal security architecture, noting that this had intensified calls for state policing and greater local government autonomy.
“The federal government cannot be everywhere. The state government also cannot be everywhere. But if we have our local governance system right, you know, you can manage the population and also be able to manage some of the crimes that we are talking about,” he said.
Ochogwu further warned that criminal groups were becoming increasingly sophisticated and adaptive, urging security agencies to adopt more innovative approaches.
“And that is why responsible agencies, too, need to innovate, you know, need to be creative also in adapting, you know, to these new realities and these dynamics to ensure that they are able to beat back these criminal groups in our society,” he said.
Nigeria Research Coordinator for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, Kingsley Madueke, said Nigeria’s fight against insecurity must go beyond military action to include efforts aimed at dismantling criminal networks financing violent conflicts.
He described the country as a major hub for transnational organised crime, noting that Nigeria ranks first in West Africa, third in Africa and eighth globally on the Organised Crime Index.
He stressed that authorities must pay closer attention to the “interlink between crime and conflict,” arguing that many armed groups and conflict actors sustain their operations through illicit markets.
According to him, “addressing conflict and instability requires understanding its link with criminality”.
He added that efforts to restore peace would remain ineffective unless government disrupts the criminal economies that provide funding and resources for violent actors.
Madueke also warned against relying solely on kinetic military operations, saying insecurity is fuelled by deeper structural problems such as unemployment, weak state presence and protection allegedly enjoyed by criminal actors from some state officials.
He rejected the description of some territories as “ungoverned spaces,” insisting that such areas are, instead, alternatively governed spaces where criminal groups fill the vacuum left by the state. He cited parts of the North-West, North-East and North-Central states, including Niger, Plateau and Benue, as areas where criminal groups dominate territories and use them as bases to launch attacks.
