Transnational crimes are organised crimes involving more than one country in its planning, execution, or impact. Unlike traditional crimes that occur within a single country, transnational crimes are distinguished by their multinational nature and cross-border impact. They involve provision of illicit goods (drug trafficking, trafficking in stolen property, weapons trafficking, and counterfeiting), illicit services (commercial sex and human/organs trafficking), and infiltration of business and government (Cyberfraud, money laundering, racketeering, etc.). Transnational organized crimes strive in countries or regions with suitable geostrategic position, poor governance, corruption, poverty and issues of inequality and social mobility. Hence, proliferation of transnational crimes in any country pose transnational security threats.
This Handbook on Transnational Crimes and Rehabilitation of Offenders by Ndubueze, P.N, Attoh, F and Adejoh, S.O (Eds.) is therefore very timely in Nigeria and cannot be overemphasized. Like many African countries, Nigeria is currently “dancing on the brink”. Insecurity and violent crimes are high, with violent extremism, armed banditry, illegal mining, kidnapping, terrorism and ethnic separatists agitations. Transnational crime networks are no doubt complicit in the happenings in Nigeria.
This very important book is divided into three parts and subdivided into twelve chapters. In Part 1, Philip Ndubueze set the tone with the context, dimensions and control of transnational crimes, while other authors in this section interrogate the ideological and language dimensions of transnational crimes.
In part 2, Franca Attoh and Damilola extensively discussed the endemic and hydraheaded challenge of human trafficking in Nigeria. Importantly, other contributors in this section mainstreamed what I would call “scientific criminology” by exhaustively discussing bioterrorism, nuclear terrorism, environmental, agricultural and forensic microbiology as tools for transnational crimes.
Part 3, interrogates the issue of rehabilitations of offenders. Without being subjective, this section is “close to my heart” as a former Assistant Controller of Prisons, a UNODC Expert in Restorative Justice and a Victimologist.
Adejoh, S.O and others in this section dealt with the rehabilitation of offenders, and victims of human trafficking in Nigeria. Effective rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders are important tools of crime prevention because inmates can easily be radicalized in poorly managed prisons. Hence, doubts are increasing about whether imprisonment can rehabilitate offenders. It is often suggested that sending offenders to prison can turn them into worse criminals and that, for that reason, imprisonment should be reserved for the more serious and dangerous offenders. Against this background, there is a growing belief that non-custodial sanctions and measures may constitute a better way, providing penalties that are proportionate to the offence committed by the offender and that carry greater possibilities for the rehabilitation and constructive reintegration of the offender into society.
Part 3, is in line with the reform in the Nigerian Correctional Services Act 2019 Part B, which provides for Custodial and Non-custodial Measures. Section 37 (1) (a) to (e) of the Act says the Nigerian Correctional Service is responsible for the administration of non-custodial measures, including Community service, Probation, Parole, Restorative justice measures, and any other non-custodial measure assigned to the Nigerian Correctional Service by any Court of competent jurisdiction (for the purposes of effective rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration of offenders).
This book therefore is a compendium and a “must-read” on Transnational Crimes, its causes, context, dimensions and prevention. I strongly recommend this book to all law enforcement agencies interested in counter terrorism, international threats analysis; as well as to correctional officers, criminologists, policy analysts, students of law, political science, sociology, criminology and security studies.
Professor Don John O. Omale
British Chevening Scholar of Criminology,
Professor of Criminology/Head, Department of Sociology,
Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria.