From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Stakeholders at a one-day town hall meeting on small arms and light weapons proliferation in Nigeria have harped on the need for Nigerians to take deliberate steps to urgently address the sad reality of arms proliferation in the country to avoid it snowballing into a war situation.
This came to the fore during a town hall meeting organized by Jireh Doo Foundation (JDF) in collaboration with Mines Advisory Group (MAG) as part of its concluding activities on the six (6) months pilot project on Weapons and Ammunitions Management (WAM) in four local government areas of Makurdi, Kwande, Konshisha and Oju in Benue State.
Speaking during the event, National Coordinator of Jireh Doo Foundation, Josephine Habba stated that the fight against the proliferation of light weapons is not a one-man business as the effects could wreak havoc of unimaginable proportions.
Habba who was represented by JDF’s Senior Program Officer, Seth Manu called on all hands to be on deck to address the issues of small arms and light weapons proliferation especially as the pendulum swings towards the 2023 general elections.
“That is the essence of the town hall meeting we are having. We are very passionate about this issue especially as we move towards the 2023 elections. We want communities to come up with community-based approaches to the issues of small arms and light weapons. That’s why we are calling on all men, women, youths and children to begin to understand the effect of small arms and light weapons and the colossal damage they can cause.”
On her part, representative of MAG, Sandra Akura said the project which has a timeline of six months from July to December 2021, has reached about 2100 people across the four pilot local government areas in the state with Risk Education Messages.
Another speaker, Wesley Ahura opined that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons has driven the rise in violence in Nigeria which has led to mass displacement and has resulted in Nigeria having a number of internally displaced people that rival countries which are officially at war.
Ahura while quoting SBM Intelligence said, “The proliferation of small arms and ammunitions is driving the increasing rate of violence in Nigeria. The number of small arms in circulation in Nigeria, in the hands of civilian non-state actors, is estimated at 6,145,000.”
He regretted that the trend of arms proliferation in Nigeria has had an impact on Nigeria’s internal security which has led to violence and the deaths and injury of thousands of innocent citizens.•
“The proliferation of arms in Central Nigeria has driven the increasing rate of violence in the region, including, but is not limited to; communal clashes, cultism, kidnappings, ethnic clashes,” Ahura said.
Some of the participants at the event including students, security operatives, and civil servants and various ministries suggested that appropriate punishments should be meted out to anyone caught in possession of small arms and light weapons, even as security operatives should be deliberate in protecting the identities of those who give credible information.