CCSALW Decries Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons 

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons(CCSALW) has called on the general public to be wary of pseudo-security outfits parading themselves as organisations in control of illicit small arms and light weapons in the country.

In a press release made available to journalists and signed by the NCCSALW’s South-South Zonal Coordinator, Major General Ifiok M. Obot, the centre admonished the public to report such groups to the nearest security agencies.

According to the statement, NCCSALW remains the only agency of government established to fight  the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.

Obot stated that the NCCSALW came into existence through the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/55/25, recognising the spate of proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country and the world at large, which, he said, has increased cases of kidnapping, armed violence, banditry, terrorism and armed robbery.

The zonal coordinator cited the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the illicit trade in SALW 2001 and Article 24 of ECOWAS Convention on SALW, their Ammunition and other Related Materials 2006 as legal documents for the control of SALW, to which Nigeria is a signatory to, which established the NCCSALW.

“The centre is saddled with the responsibility of collaborating with relevant stakeholders in monitoring and tracking movement and stockpile of illicit SALW within the country through sharing of credible and actionable information. It also monitors the country’s international borders and liaises with international and regional bodies on the movement of SALW,” the statement said.