FG probes arms smuggling through Gulf of Guinea

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, on Tuesday said the federal government is investigating the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) as a major route for arms trafficking into Nigeria.

Ribadu said probing the route which is the maritime gateway between Africa and the rest of the world became imperative to curb having arms and ammunition in the hands of non-state actors.

He disclosed this in Abuja during a two-day seminar on “Climate Change and the Changing Dynamics of Arms Proliferation and Insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea: Nigeria in Perspective.”

The Gulf of Guinea consists of 16 countries including Nigeria, spread along its roughly 6,000 kilometres of unbroken coastline.

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The NSA’s new revelation came less than a week after he set ablaze some decommissioned, unserviceable and recovered illicit arms.

Ribadu, who was represented by the Director of External Affairs, Office of the National Security Adviser, Ibrahim Babani, maintained that smuggling of illegal arms would not be tolerated.

He said the GoG has abundant natural resources and underground mineral deposits boasting an estimated 24 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, contributing roughly five million barrels daily to the global crude chain.

“The lucrative nature of the GoG in terms of natural resources, movement of ships and related economic activities attracts strange bedfellows and men of the underworld with ulterior motives pursuing nefarious activities in the GoG.

“Organised crime syndicates are involved in various devastating crimes, notably drug trafficking, human trafficking, oil theft, kidnapping and hostage-taking of ship crews, piracy and smuggling of contraband goods,” he said.

“In this category lies the smuggling of small arms and light weapons by international crime syndicates.

“Though there have been reports on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons through the maritime sector, the government is interested in further interrogation of the GoG as a major route for arms trafficking,” he added.

The NSA said there was a need for additional interrogation of the nexus between climate change, armed violence and the proliferation of arms within the countries of the GoG.