Kingsley Omonobi
10 October 2008
The Federal Government said yesterday, that it was worried by the threat to the peace and stability of the country following the increase in activities of several armed groups including militants in the Niger Delta, cultists in higher institutions and several other armed groups whose activities are fuelling inter communal clashes among age-long neighbours.
Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Fidelia Akuabata Njeze who made the disclosure at the inauguration of the Committee for the establishment of a National Commission on Small Arms and Light weapons in Abuja, expressed regret that these groups have access to these dangerous arms with which they terrorize innocent citizens as well as economic assets with ease.
"These groups do not use armoured tanks, fighter jets or warships; they rely on small arms and light weapons to carry out their nefarious activities. I am particularly delighted that the inauguration of this committee is coming at a time when the peace and stability of our country has come under increasing threat by the activities of armed groups as currently witnessed in some parts of the country."
Emphasizing that, "the proliferation of small arms and light weapons has fuelled violent conflicts in Africa, begetting a culture of impunity, militarization of civilian population, upsurge of criminal activities within and across borders and the phenomenon of child soldier", Mrs. Njeze said, "This is because these arms are easy to carry and simple to use even by a child."
"Small arms have become the most potent instrument of violence used in Africa conflicts undermining the prospects of stability and development in the region," she further said.
The minister noted that it was against the backdrop of the adverse consequences of the proliferation of small arms in the West African sub region that heads of states and government of ECOWAS in 1998 endorsed a moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of small arms and light weapons to ensure a coordinated fight against the scourge.
"The ECOWAS moratorium was replaced by a convention in 2006. With the inception of the convention, it has become mandatory that the National Committee for small arms and light weapons set up in 2001, evolves into a full fledged National Commission with enhanced statutory powers" she said noting, President Umaru Yar'Adua has directed the ministry of Defence to head the committee of stakeholders and come out with recommendations on the establishment of National commission.
Earlier, Chairman of the National Committee on Control of Small Arms (NATCOM), Air Commodore Danjuma Otaru said, though Nigeria was facing enormous challenges associated with the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons, the point to note is that the menace is not exclusive to Nigeria but has remained a global security challenge.
Explaining that the approach to tackling the problem should not be exclusively a military or security restricted sphere, Otaru said, "it should involve institutions and stakeholders working on related issues."
He urged government to urgently ratify the ECOWAS convention on small arms and light weapons, their ammunition and other related materials, transformation of NATCOM to a commission as required by the convention, and fast-track the conduct of national small arms survey among others.
"It will be important for Nigeria to be among the first eight countries to ratify the convention to enable it come into force", the chairman said pointing out that "So far, 7 countries have ratified and it requires and expeditious action for Nigeria to meet up this target.
"Our development partners are willing and ready to partner with Nigeria but require that some administrative bottlenecks such as operating an independent account, office spaces, among others have to be sorted out," Otaru added.
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