US attorneys general canvass responses to human, wildlife trafficking

Some 30 attorneys general and other experts from the United States of America under the Conference of Western Attorneys General of United States gathered in Calabar yesterday to agree on a position on rampant human and wildlife trafficking across Africa and other parts of the world.

The conference was in collaboration with Africa Alliance Partnership where they engaged Nigerian counterparts on ways of assisting them tackle the issue.

The participants said there was the need to have joint responses to transnational crimes by establishing and building cooperative relationships.

Mr. Markus Green who spoke for the sponsors, Cross River Ministry of Justice and SWAG, said given the transborder nature of wildlife and human trafficking, child pornography, drugs, firearms, among others, no single country should be left alone.

“We deal with a range of topics including human trafficking, wildlife trafficking and some of the general administration of the rule of law practices. The idea is that we all belong to a global village and so we talk about the global social justice system,” Green said.

The host AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Joe Abang, said, “We are host to one of the largest national parks which houses chimpanzees, monkeys and other important species to humanity. These western attorney generals in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Justice, state ministries of justice and body of attorney generals in Nigeria chose Calabar as a biodiversity hotspot to deliberate on the experiences they have had in the US, Mexico and other countries to deliberate on the way of preserving these endangered species.”