COMBATING TRANSNATIONAL CRIMES IN NIGERIA USING LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL INSTRUMENTS

It is well known that many governments have resorted to a wide range of constructions to justify, under international law, their unilateral exceptions to countering transnational crimes such as terrorism. Nigeria's status and role as a regional power continues to impact the entire West African sub-region. However, the country is facing serious security challenges that are complicated by transnational threats which are associated with organised crime and the activities of jihadist movements. Threats to security linked to the activities of terrorist and human traffickers in West Africa have attracted considerable attention from scholars, policy makers and practitioners alike. The aim of this study is to comprehend the nature of transnational crimes in Nigeria and how to utilize international legal provisions to combat them within the Nigerian Criminal Justice System. Appraise the nature and scope of international law on identified transnational crimes. Evaluate the effectiveness of the International legal framework on combating crimes within the Nigerian Criminal Justice System. Recommend appropriate judicial remedies. This study presents the role of Nigeria as a regional hegemon, and also discusses its response to transnational organised criminality and jihadist activities in the sub-region, highlighting Nigeria's official response as well as other interventions undertaken through bilateral and multilateral platforms. The efforts of the Nigerian government at combating transnational organised crime and the spread of jihadist activities are yielding some gains. However, lack of political will, bad governance, and poorly equipped and motivated defence and security agencies coupled with other problems such as the porosity of the borders and non involvement of the people have continued to inhibit progress. This paper seeks to take stock of a range of arguments, doctrines or constructions that states may resort to when seeking to justify their unilateral actions in combating transnational crimes. Many constructions have a valid legal basis and a proper scope of application. However, they also have limitations and often relate to a specific treaty, or the availability of a procedure, but do not alter the substantive obligations of the state in question under international law. In many cases, this results from the overlap of treaty law and customary norms of international law. Some of the constructions are open to abuse, i.e. bad faith efforts to distort international law to the detriment of human rights. Because the combined effect of the various excuses and exceptions are complex, there is a need for a holistic approach which seeks to address the combined effect of various constructions of unilateral exceptions. The study concludes that there is no controversy about the desirability of the Nigerian government to curb transnational organised crime and jihadist activities in the country. However, the complexities of strategies and modalities for effective curbing of transnational threats still requires in-depth and concerted efforts than have been given by stakeholders.