• Centre destroys over 3,000 weapons, 20,000 ammunition
Stakeholders across broad spectrum of the society in Cross River State have expressed concern about the proliferation of illicit arms and light weapons by wrong persons and subsequently adopted new approaches to check and control the situation.
The stakeholders, including market women, traditional and religious leaders, youths’ organisations, media practitioners, civil societies, trade unions as well as security operatives were assembled at a one-day workshop organised by the National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, South-South zonal office in Calabar.
Speaking on the theme of the workshop: ‘Whole society approach in combating the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in Nigeria’, the guest of honour and special adviser to Cross River State Governor on Security, Maj.- Gen. Okoi Obono (Rtd), said the small arms and light weapons in the hands of the wrong persons was one of the ills of the society that needed to be fought with others to free the society.
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He said: “If there is a fight and you are without a weapon, when you are tired you will stop the fight, but if you have a weapon, you may be charged to fight on. So, we need to free our society of the situation.”
He said for the state government, a lot of initiatives had been put in place working with the ministries and MDAs by way of their policies in synergy with the Office of the Security Adviser to make sure crime was combated.
“Like it’s rightly said, the society also has a role to play in the whole exercise. We have carried out a lot of sensitisation and advocacies in the 18 local governments in the state.”
Obono said the security agencies relied much on information and tip off that helped to identify hideouts of such arms and weapons in the state, adding that a weapon factory that was unravelled in Akamkpa Local Government was based on a tip-off.
The Zonal Coordinator of the National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, South-South office, Maj.-Gen. Martins Obot (Rtd.), said the office had retrieved and destroyed over 3,000 weapons of different sizes and shapes, including AK47 rifles, general purpose machine guns, propel granites, locally made single and double barrel guns, some cut to size.
“We have also retrieved large quantity of ammunition; more than 20,000 so far. We have carried out the destruction exercise and we are sure that other exercises for destruction will take place when due.”
Guest lecturer, Dr. Ndifon Neji Obi, a sub-dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Calabar, as well as the coordinator of Peace and Conflict Studies at the university, noted that an intervention as done by the National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons was very appropriate, “especially now that the Federal Government is trying its best to ensure that conditions are created where negative energies can be redirected to peace resources.”
He said most conflicts in communities across Nigeria were facilitated by the availability of small arms and light weapons.
“Bringing stakeholders together to build consciousness is a critical point and an appropriate foundation for ensuring such weapons are laid off in communities, by the communities.”
