By Kemi Yesufu
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed for second reading a bill to establish the National Commission Against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.
The bill co-sponsored by the Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Rep. Nnena Elendu- Ukeje was referred to the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence for further legislative action.
The proposed Commission, “shall be charged with the responsibility of combating illicit trafficking of arms by strengthening laws and regulations , reinforcing operational capacity and improving on the system in tracing arms flow”.
The agency when established will also be responsible for the “removal of arms from society through the collection, storage, destruction, management and stockpiling of small arms and light weapons.
This is as the Commission will be involved in the control, manufacture and registration of small arms and light weapons including those to be used in peace keeping operations, update its register and transmit same to ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations.
Leading the debate on the bill, Elendu- Ukeje said it had become necessary for Nigeria to have an agency whose work will lead to the drastic reduction in the circulation of illegally acquired weapons.
She noted that these small and light weapons mostly obtained through illegal means are at the root of violent crimes across the country.
“What used to be a fringe conversation has become mainstream. Conversations about Nigeria’s insecurity concerns are highlighted on a daily basis as communal conflicts , religious crises, insurrection, terrorism, insurgency, militancy, revolt, electoral violence, robbery, cross border smuggling, kidnapping, sexual violence, domestic violence and all other threats as highlighted in the national security strategy has been on the increase in the past couple of years.
“In a recent meeting with the United Nation Center for Peace and Disarmament held by its National Coordinator, Mrs. Okubo Ige, she said that West Africa had about 500 million small arms in circulation and that 70 percent of those arms reside in Nigeria. She put the number at about 350 million”, the lawmaker said.
According to Elendu-Ukeje, statistics from the Office of the President of the Senate on the killings in the North-Central zone, shows that there have been over 80 reported incidences of armed conflict that has claimed over 877 lives between 1st January to 29th April 2018.
She noted that “obsolete laws and ineffective stockpile management” was responsible for the present proliferation. She said that Nigeria and Gambia are probable the only two countries in West Africa and probably Africa that has no National Commissions against the proliferation of arms.
Recall that the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in October1998 signed a declaration of the Moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of light weapons and its code of conduct in the sub- region, as well as the establishment of National Commissions Against the Proliferation of Small Arms in Member States.
Again in 2006 in Abuja, they met and signed a legally binding Convention known as the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and other related matters to replace the Moratorium. Nigeria ratified the Convention in 2009.
When the Speaker Dogara put up the bill for a voice vote, it was supported by majority of members, many of whom had earlier expressed support for the bill.
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