Rid Nigeria of Illicit Arms, Defence Minister Charges Weapons Centre

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Minister of Defence, Major Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd), at the weekend charged the National Centre of the Control of Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) to rid Nigeria of illicit weapons.

According to report, over 6.5million small arms and light weapons are circulating in Nigeria.
Research findings have shown that of the 6.5 million arms, only 586,000 are in the hands of law enforcement agencies.The rest are in the hands of non-state actors.

The minister, who spoke while receiving the management team of the weapons centre led by Major Gen. Muhammed Dikko (rtd) in his office, charged the agency to sanitise the national security landscape.

He urged the centre to rid the country of illicit arms by “checkmating illegal movements, manipulations and management of small arms and light weapons in the country in compliance with its mandate and international conventions.”

While appreciating President Muhammadu Buhari for the establishment of the centre and the appointment of Dikko as the national coordinator, the minister “pledged the support of the ministry to synergise efforts in stopping the effrontery and parity in weapons handling between the state actors and non-state actors.”

Dikko, who served under Genenel Magashi in ECOMOG during the Liberian civil war, solicited the minister’s support towards stabilising the operations of the new outfit.

He said a bill, which is presently undergoing consideration at the National Assembly, was designed to transform it into a full-fledged commission.

Dikko assured the minister that he would be focused in pursuing its mandate.
A statement issued by the minister’s office said Dikko maintained that NCCSALW was leveraging on multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholders’ approach in implementing all national, United Nations and ECOWAS plans of action on the control of small arms and light weapons.

He disclosed that plans to mainstream the control of small arms and light weapons into national discourse were ongoing just as efforts to put in place a streamlining mechanism for sharing of weapons by security agencies as well as the establishment of a data base to checkmate proliferation and missing of SALW.