First Woman Trainer in Agadez, as guns unearthed in desert
First Woman
The Gendarme Balkissa YAYE GOUMEYE on May 10 became the first woman to give training in the Agadez Region. She successfully trained colleagues from the three internal security forces, the National Police, National Guard and Gendarmerie, in the field of criminal intelligence.
Following the format of EUCAP Sahel’s trainings, she was monitored by the European expert in Criminal Intelligence, and is now a certified trainer of trainers, allowing her and her colleagues to take charge of future trainings.
'It is a great honour for me to provide training on intelligence gathering', she said, 'because the collection and processing of intelligence allows the anticipation of terrorist activity and organized crime. Niger, and particularly the region of Agadez, faces a great number of security threats. This training helps us fight irregular migration and related trafficking of arms, drugs and people’.
Hidden guns and ammunition cache discovered
As a sign of the need for added vigilance, Nigerien Police forces a few days ago discovered a quantity of hidden arms and ammunition buried 30 km outside Agadez. Yesterday, EUCAP Sahel Niger represented by the Deputy Head of the Agadez Field Office, local authorities including the Governor, the Secretary General of the governorate, the Mayor of Agadez, the Vice-President of the Regional Council of Agadez, the Sultan of Aïr, and the Chiefs of Forces, along with the Press, were invited to a ceremony where the arms and ammunition were displayed.
In Agadez since April 2016
EUCAP Sahel Niger continues to make professional police trainings available to Nigerien internal security forces, and is consistently in a state of dialogue to capacity build its partners where it helps the most.
In Agadez since April of 2016, EUCAP Sahel Niger has been working with the National Police, Gendarmerie, National Guard, and most recently the Municipal Police, in areas such as criminal intelligence, border management and criminal investigation, assisting them in the fight against terrorism, arms and drugs smuggling, irregular migration, associated crimes and organised criminal groups.