In West Africa, terrorist activities are increasing in the coastal countries of West Africa in 2025 with violent extremist groups spreading south of the Sahel. Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo are some of the countries that have been subjected to coordinated attacks that jeopardize national and regional stability. The combination of terrorism, illegal arms trade, and organized crime is the fuel behind these assaults as they are exploiting the lack of governance and the lack of proper resources in judicial systems.
The reports by regional monitors show that sub-Saharan Africa has been ranked as the most hit area by terrorism in the world over the past eight years. Maritime insecurity has taken a central stage in the Gulf of Guinea, which is one of the major trade routes, worsening economic issues. The overlap of criminal economies and radicalization points to the urgency of effective justice responses. Conventional security has been found to be inadequate and institutional resiliency and legal responsibility have become the centre of attention.
The limits of military responses
In the last ten years, the military-oriented approach to counterterrorism has not been able to produce sustainable outcomes. Although some insurgency movements have been contained in operations being undertaken under the Accra Initiative and the Multinational Joint Task Force, it has failed to eradicate the financial and logistical networks that support extremism. The fact that attacks persist indicates the need to pursue justice based strategies that address root causes impunity, corruption and weak law systems.
The emergence of a justice-based framework
In the face of such challenges, the international partners promote more approaches based on the rule of law. Enhancing the independence of the judiciary, raising the proficiency of the prosecutorial system, and increasing the coordination of the operations of intelligence, law enforcement, and courts are now perceived as the key ingredients in the prevention of radicalization and the achievement of convictions of the highest-quality and international human rights standards.
The UNODC-EU regional criminal justice program: Strategic direction
In September 2025, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union (EU) announced a joint initiative in the region that will improve the criminal justice systems in West African coastal states. The initiative is expected to enhance national capabilities to probe, prosecute and prosecute terrorist-related crimes under the auspices of international law.
The design of the program incorporates a lot of consultations that had been done previously in 2025 in Accra, Abidjan, and Cotonou. These discussions showed institutional flaws such as underdeveloped forensic capacity to insufficient cross-border collaboration with the judicial system. Consequently, the program focuses on evidence-based prosecutions, counterterrorism training in the legislation, and better inter-agency coordination.
Strategic priorities and operational goals
The program is founded on three major pillars, i.e., judicial reform, capacity-building, and regional cooperation. The judicial reform aims at harmonizing the domestic laws with international anti-terrorism agreements. Capacity-building is aimed at developing investigative and prosecutorial capabilities, in particular, dealing with complex transnational cases. Regional cooperation fosters harmonized practices in sharing of evidence, extradition and helping each other.
EU officials have emphasized the initiative as being a part of a larger European effort to stabilize the coastal areas of Africa by governing and not militarizing them. Arms alone, as one of the senior EU representatives mentioned in the Cotonou launch, cannot win the war against terrorism, but rather the war needs institutions that are strong and that justice is trusted.
Building sustainable regional and multilateral frameworks
The cooperation of the UNODC and EU is supplemented by current African-based mechanisms that deal with the problem of terrorism and organized crime. Collective security is founded on programs such as the Accra Initiative and the Peace and Security Architecture of ECOWAS, but these programs are not fully integrated into the judiciary. The UNODC-EU program is also strengthening African ownership, but adds the advanced international expertise through the alignment with these structures.
Strengthening legal harmonization
The disparities in laws against counterterrorism among the West African countries tend to hamper prosecution and extradition. The regional justice project focuses more on harmonisation to facilitate collective operation and eliminate safe havens to criminals. It also incorporates the 2023 Protocol on Transnational Crime of the African Union, which urges the states to use consistent methods in investigating the financing of terrorism and transnational conspiracies.
Enhancing judicial independence and oversight
The resiliency of institutions relies on the existence of independent courts that are resistant to political interference and corruption. The training modules of the program contain ethical governance and judicial integrity areas to make the program less vulnerable to outside influence. This strategy is in line with Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development of the UN which connects peace, justice and strong institutions.
Addressing illicit trafficking and advancing forensic capabilities
Trafficking of small arms and light weapons is one of the greatest issues in the region, which has remained a source of violent extremism. The UNODC-EU project proposes the use of modernized data exchange and tracking systems to track the flow of arms as well as detecting the networks of trafficking.
Integrating forensic science in criminal investigations
The area of forensic science in most criminal justice systems in West Africa is still a weak point. Chain-of-custody documentation, evidence handling and crime scene management are usually not up to international standards of prosecutors. To overcome this, the program offers specialization on digital forensics, chemical analysis of explosive residues, and biometric identification. This is done so that the evidence gathered can be presented in court and counterterrorism trials are more credible.
Combating corruption and ensuring accountability
Corruption has still been a hindrance on counterterrorism. Money that should be used in modernizing law enforcement is usually misappropriated and prosecution is undermined by politics. The UNODC-EU framework entails internal checks and balances, as well as collaboration with civil society groups in enhancing transparency in the courts of law. This aspect of responsibility is essential to the maintenance of people in the confidence of state organizations.
The evolving role of international cooperation
The updated UNODC-EU collaboration is an indication of a wider change of the international counterterrorism thought system of reactive militarization and proactive legal and institutional involvement. This change is similar to other parts of the world including East Africa, the Western Balkans, where justice-based approaches have increased the rate of prosecution and decreased the rate of extremist recruitment.
The need to cooperate internationally should also be a priority since extremist organizations are quick to change in terms of technology and geopolitical conditions. Financing, encrypted communication, and transnational networks of recruitment necessitate multi-national responses through the use of cryptocurrency. The regional scope of the UNODC-EU initiative offers an example of adaptive governance that can tackle immediately emerging threats without breaching the civil liberties.
The path forward for West Africa’s coastal stability
The introduction of the UNODC and EU regional criminal justice program 2025 is a milestone in the counterterrorism of West Africa. The initiative is a long-term stability, governance and human rights investment by focusing on justice reform and institutional integrity, as well as active engagement with military confrontation.
Its success will however rely on long-term political goodwill among governments in West Africa and overall donor support by the international partners. The functional justice system is a progressive process, and it has to take time in overcoming the global tendency of corruption and lack of resources. However, the possibilities of the program to convert weak states into strong legal players are hard to overestimate.
The UNODC and EU alliance is a good sign that in the region where violence is increasing and where institutions are being revived, justice and not force can eventually become the most potent weapon against extremism in West Africa.
