The Government of Sierra Leone and SEACOP sign a memorandum of understanding on the fight against illegal maritime traffic
On Friday, November 11, 2022, a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding on the fight against illicit maritime traffic between SEACOP and the Government of Sierra Leone, represented by the National Security Coordinator, Mr. Abdulai Caulker, was held at the Office of National Security (ONS), in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
During the ceremony, the Chief of Staff of the ONS, Mr. Francis Langumba Keili, welcomed the participants and reiterated Sierra Leone’s commitment to the implementation and success of the SEACOP project in the country.
Mr. Abdulai Caulker, chaired the meeting and thanked Expertise France for its support to Sierra Leone in the fight against organized crime. He also stated that strengthening the maritime domain is essential to successfully reduce organized criminal activities, as malicious elements always tend to take advantage of vulnerabilities at maritime borders and carry out their nefarious activities to the detriment of national security.
The NSCoord highlighted the successes of the SEACOP project, although it is a new project in Sierra Leone. He emphasized the relevance of SEACOP in the country’s fight against illicit activities and acknowledged the level of inter-agency cooperation and collaboration that the SEACOP project currently enjoys.
It should be noted that this ceremony took place following a week-long training of 10 officers of the Joint Maritime Control Unit of Sierra Leone. The training, which aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of the staff in the field of ship search, was conducted by an expert from the Belgian Customs and a representative of the Narcotics Commission of Ghana.
