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| FILE PHOTO: Nigerian custom |
The Federal Government, through the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons, said it was set to destroy 5,000 weapons recovered from cattle rustlers and other criminals in Zamfara and Katsina states.
The Programmes Coordinator of the committee, Mr. Dickson Orji, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a workshop on Physical Security and Stockpile Management organised by the committee and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa.
The coordinator said 600 weapons were also recovered and destroyed in Benue State.
Orji said, “We tried to take a stock of these weapons. We have destroyed 425 weapons in Katsina. We presently have over 5,000 weapons waiting to be destroyed in Zamfara. They were recovered from cattle rustlers and all sorts of criminal elements. We also have some weapons to be destroyed in Katsina.
“Last year, we destroyed over 600 weapons in Benue State. So, it is a continuous process of destruction. We cannot for now say that any state is endemic, because we are still expecting a report of our survey. All the geopolitical zones and the states do not have the same problem.
“The survey was conducted in the 36 states and we are collating the report. This workshop is to review the proposed standard operating and administrative procedures on stockpile management and physical security.
“What we mean is that we have many illicit arms in circulation but some of them are already in government’s stockpile. We believe that if the government manages its stockpile very well, there will not be leakages from the government’s stockpile to non-state actors.”
The UN Centre Director, Anselme Yabouri, said 70 per cent of circulating small arms in West Africa could be found in Nigeria.
Yabouri said, “Nigeria is one of the countries that is experiencing some negative effects of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons as a result of the spillover of the recent crises in Libya and Mali as well as unresolved internal conflicts in different parts of the country. This is particularly in the North-East, Niger Delta and the southern region.”
The Programmes Coordinator of the committee, Mr. Dickson Orji, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a workshop on Physical Security and Stockpile Management organised by the committee and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa.
The coordinator said 600 weapons were also recovered and destroyed in Benue State.
Orji said, “We tried to take a stock of these weapons. We have destroyed 425 weapons in Katsina. We presently have over 5,000 weapons waiting to be destroyed in Zamfara. They were recovered from cattle rustlers and all sorts of criminal elements. We also have some weapons to be destroyed in Katsina.
“Last year, we destroyed over 600 weapons in Benue State. So, it is a continuous process of destruction. We cannot for now say that any state is endemic, because we are still expecting a report of our survey. All the geopolitical zones and the states do not have the same problem.
“The survey was conducted in the 36 states and we are collating the report. This workshop is to review the proposed standard operating and administrative procedures on stockpile management and physical security.
“What we mean is that we have many illicit arms in circulation but some of them are already in government’s stockpile. We believe that if the government manages its stockpile very well, there will not be leakages from the government’s stockpile to non-state actors.”
The UN Centre Director, Anselme Yabouri, said 70 per cent of circulating small arms in West Africa could be found in Nigeria.
Yabouri said, “Nigeria is one of the countries that is experiencing some negative effects of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons as a result of the spillover of the recent crises in Libya and Mali as well as unresolved internal conflicts in different parts of the country. This is particularly in the North-East, Niger Delta and the southern region.”
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