The worsening insecurity in Nigeria, manifested in terrorist attacks, banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, violent crimes, cult wars, ethnic and regional militias, and the like, provide enough evidence that small and illicit arms are in circulation in abundance. On the other hand, the acquisition of small arms through illegal means is being done by Nigerians to ensure self-help against violent acts because the nation’s security infrastructure seems to have been overwhelmed.
An investigation recently published by Daily Trust revealed the alarming trend in arms proliferation. The report said in 2020 alone security agencies arrested 4,338 persons over arms trafficking. Some 255 guns, 2,204 ammunition and 1,417 cartridges were recovered. Though these recoveries may look significant, it is like a drop of water in the ocean when compared with the number of illegal weapons in circulation.
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The reason adduced for arms proliferation is the country’s porous borders. It is argued that no country in the world can control the kind of borders Nigeria has. Nigeria has 770 kilometres of shared land border with the Republic of Benin, around 1,500 kilometres with Niger Republic, 1,700 kilometres with Cameroon and 90 kilometres with Chad. The country also has 850 kilometres of maritime border in the Atlantic Ocean. From this intimidating size of our borders, it seems impossible to deal with the besetting insecurity. But with a strong political will, it could be tackled.
First, the smuggling of small arms into Nigeria is a clear evidence of the failure of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol. Under this protocol, security agencies in member-countries are expected to cooperate in order to prevent the smuggling of illegal weapons in the sub-region. The question of small arms is dealt with in Articles 50 and 51 of the Protocol. Article 50 on ‘Control of the proliferation of small arms,’ provides as follows: “While taking into account the legitimate national defence and security needs, and those of international peacekeeping operations, ECOWAS shall establish effective measures to: (a) Control the importation, exportation and manufacture of small arms and eradicate the illegal flow of such arms; (b) Register and control the movement and use of legitimate arms stocks; (c) Detect, collect and destroy all illicit weapons; (d) Encourage member States to collect and destroy all surplus weapons.”
Article 51, on “Preventive measures against the illegal circulation of small arms”, provides as follows: “ECOWAS shall take all the necessary measures to combat illicit trafficking and circulation of small arms. These measures shall include: (a) Developing a culture of peace; (b) Training for military, security and police forces; (c) Enhancing weapons control at border posts; (d) Establishment of a database and regional arms register; (e) Collection and destruction of (surplus and) illegal weapons; (f) Facilitating dialogue with producers and suppliers; (g) Reviewing and harmonizing national legislation and administrative procedures; (h) Mobilizing resources.” It is clear that these are just on paper, and that ECOWAS member-nations are not adhering to the protocol.
We call on government to put in place measures to protect our borders and arrest illegal arms dealers. This could be achieved primarily through human intelligence. Security operatives could identify the groups and individuals that are engaged in the manufacture, sale, storage, transfer, possession and illegal funding of this category of weapon. Sometimes these arms are imported into the country hidden in clothing, vehicles or kitchen utensils. Human intelligence can detect those involved in such criminal acts. Apart from human intelligence, government must invest in the procurement of sophisticated intelligence equipment such as electronic communication facilities and drones to secure our borders.
Also, security agencies must police their personnel to fish out turncoats who collaborate with arms smugglers, or even those who use the advantage of being security agents to engage in illicit arms smuggling. Unfortunately, it is double agents in our security outfits who compromise Nigeria’s borders, not necessarily the smartness of criminals who smuggle small arms into the country.
Most importantly, government must activate conflict-resolution mechanisms and ensure justice is dispensed with dispatch when crimes are committed. If conflicts are resolved quickly and perpetrators evidently punished, the resort to arms for revenge by aggrieved parties would reduce.
