The Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) has identified Jibiya, Katsina State, as one of the 193 major hubs across the world with flourishing illegal markets for drugs, arms ammunition and other prohibited items.
Jibiya, which is one of the terrorists’ enclaves in Katsina, shares borders with the Republic of Niger as well as with the notorious Rugu Forest, which equally transverses Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger States in Nigeria and the Republic of Niger, and reportedly stretches to as far as Burkina Faso.
With headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the GI-TOC says it coordinates its global programming activities through regional observatories, in East and Southern Africa, North Africa and the Sahel and West Africa.
Speaking at a dialogue with stakeholders in Katsina, the Nigeria Research Coordinator for the GI-TOC West Africa Observatory, Kingsley Madueke, explained that the programme was designed to serve as a significant catalyst in responding to the destabilizing impacts of crime, conflicts and violence in Jibiya.
He said that the group works where organised crime is prevalent and shares the objective of developing innovative strategies and responses to illicit markets.
Also speaking at the programme, Special Adviser to the Katsina State Governor on Farming and Grazing, Yusuf Suleiman, said that the GI-TOC intervention was timely and looked forward to the implementation of the outcome.
