By Our Correspondent
The Northwest Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), under the office of the National Security Adviser, Air Vice Marshall Haruna Umar Mohammed (Rtd) has called on patriotic Nigerians to report anyone who is in possession of illicit small arms and light weapons to security agencies.
He said the Centre’s mandate is to have an illicit arms-free society as well as to prevent and control the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the six geopolitical zones in the country.
To this end, he called on patriotic Nigerians to come forward with any information that will lead to the recovery of illicit small arms and weapons to the nearest security agency.
“If you are in doubt, you can come to our centre. You know the headquarters of the Northwest office is in Kaduna”, he declared.
The retired Air Force General made the declaration during a one-day training workshop for Journalists in Kaduna on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Tuesday.
According to him, his office will continue to collaborate with journalists in order to educate Nigerians on the dangers of possessing illicit small arms and light weapons.
While, attributing the incessant security challenges to the proliferation of arms on many individuals and groups, he said the effects of small arms and light weapons are too numerous as we are aware today.
Suffice it to say that the availability of illicit small arms and light weapons is a major catalyst for insecurity not only in Nigeria but also globally.
“Illicit small arms and light weapons effectuate the upsurge of armed groups, communal clashes, cultism, kidnappings ethnic and religious violence and militancy .
Haruna Mohammed (rtd), disclosed during the training that the Centre has recovered 30,000 small arms, light weapons and ammunition in Nigeria since it’s establishment in 2001.
He said, since the establishment of the Center, a lot of recoveries of illicit small arms and light weapons and ammunition have so far been recorded. “Over 10,000 small arms and light weapons and over 20,000 ammunition of different calibers have so far been recovered.”
According to the Coordinator, proliferation of small and light is a major catalyst for insecurity, not only in Nigeria, but globally.
“Proliferation of small arms and light weapons efatuate the upsurge of armed groups, communal clashes , cultism, kidnapping, ethnic and religious violence the world over and these results to loss of lives and property and displacement of our people.
“It is against this background that the federal government of Nigeria found it necessary as part of efforts to rejig the security architecture to establish NCCSALW to serve as a security mechanism for the prevention and control of proliferation small arms and light weapons towards peace and security in Nigeria”. Mohammed noted.
Mohammed however, explained that the training was organised in realisation of the critical role of the media in enlightening the public about the activities of the government’s establishment.
