By Uche Onyeali
West African Action Network on Small Arms, WAANSA has again stressed the need for concerted efforts to curb proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the sub-region.
WAANSA made the call at an arms destruction exercise by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, at Giri, Abuja.
A press releases from the office of the Regional 1st Vice President, WAANSA, Comrade Martins Igwe, who was the special guest at the exercise which place on Friday, March 27, pointed at gun amnesty as a critical component of eliminating small arms in Nigeria.
“As we observe, as a critical component of eliminating small arms in Nigeria, we reiterate the national appeal for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve gun amnesty months in Nigeria.
“This will encourage civilians, non-state actors, to surrender illegal arms for public destruction as being done today.
“Continuous destruction of unwanted, illegal, unregistered and inherited arms, reduces conflict, terrorism and organised crime. A designated temporary period during which this can be done should be announced by the National Security Adviser after due consultation,” the release said.
Igwe futher noted that gun destruction remained a central pillar of United Nations programme of action to prevent combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.
He also commended the efforts of the Nigeria government for its commitment in implementing the UN Programme of Actions on light weapons and small arms.
“We laud the effort of the Nigerian government towards demonstrating National Capacity in Small Arms Control. This serves as a practical method for states to remove weapons and directly supporting United Nations Programme of Actions goal of reducing regional & national security and human suffering,” Igwe said.
The WAANSA Regional 1st Vice President also called for wholistic solution framework to national security threats, integrating modern technology and constitute a regional task force on strategic border fencing with full mandate to undertake regional border security risk survey, identify and prioritise vulnerable corridors prone to transnational crimes, design a fazed border fencing master plan with informed threats indices, and regional strategic importance with strong collaboration with civil societies and relevant authorities.
He noted that WAANSA stands in solidarity to arms destruction exercise and would continue to compliment the efforts of the international community, regional and national authority’s effort towards eradicating illegal arms and light weapons.
