Nigeria, UN drug control agency agree on measures to fight organized crime

On his first official visit to sub-Saharan Africa, the head of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) has reached an agreement with the President of Nigeria on a course of action to help the country recover assets stolen due to organized crime, a UN spokesman said today.

The agreement was reached last Friday in Abuja during a meeting between ODCCP Executive Director Pino Arlacchi and President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had requested a meeting with Mr. Arlacchi to discuss technical assistance to Nigeria in the recovery of stolen assets.

Mr. Arlacchi's trip follows a resolution adopted earlier this month by the Commission on Crime Prevention, which gave ODCCP a mandate to get active in the field of asset recovery.

While in Nigeria, the ODCCP chief also met with a number of other leaders - including representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) - and appealed for prompt ratification of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.