Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday presided over the inaugural Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
He declared that clear cut strategies to curb and curtail the proliferation of small and light weapons would be developed soon.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said President Muhammadu Buhari at the last National Security Council meeting, had directed the Vice President to chair a committee to review the report of the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM) constituted in April 2013 by the then Federal Government.
The Vice President called for the development of clear cut, specific line of action to address the serious problems of small arms and light weapons many of which fuel the insurgency in the North-East and other security challenges in the country.
The vice president who noted that the seriousness of the matter had necessitated the setting up of the review committee said “the problem we have at hand is really enormous,” hence the President’s keenness on effective and prompt solutions.
Members of the review committee present at the meeting included the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami; the Ministers of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama; National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno; the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu; the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd); Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar; the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Usman, and the Chairman of PRESCOM, Amb. Emmanuel Imohe.
Others included the representatives of the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Ministry of Defence.