Nigeria, Italy and Interpol sign agreement

ABUJA, Nigeria, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Leaders from Interpol, Nigeria and Italy signed an agreement Tuesday to cooperate on countering transnational criminal organizations.

The deal, coordinated by Interpol, focuses on strengthening cooperation between the two countries on combating transnational criminal groups that run illegal immigration and human trafficking operations, among other threats, Interpol reported.

The agreement establishes a two-year pilot project in which Italy and Nigeria will work together on joint police initiatives using Interpol's global law enforcement tools to target evolving threats.

"Human trafficking and people smuggling are highly profitable activities of organized crime, targeting the most vulnerable in our society; the best way to fight it is to get police from source and destination countries to work shoulder to shoulder and for any gathered intelligence to be compared against information contained in Interpol's global databases to establish broader links," Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble said in a statement.

"The heads of police for Nigeria and Italy should be commended for their commitment to both bilateral and global police cooperation in fighting serious transnational crime."