Ammunition All Over Nigeria

D anger lurks around the corner all over the country which is already facing challenges from all manner of militants, terrorists and criminals. At this perilous period of strangulated economy, weapons are in the hands of people who are in a position to use them to create even deeper crisis.

This, of course, should worry the Federal Government. At the recently concluded National Consultation on Physical Security and Stockpile Management [PSSM] held in Abuja, there were frightening revelations by the Director of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa [UNREC], Olatokunbo Ige.

She said: “The illicit proliferation of SALW[Small Arms and Light Weapons] has had a dramatic impact on peace and security in Africa, threatening not only the existence of the state, but also the livelihood of millions of people across the continent.”

She was specific. “Nigeria is one of the countries experiencing some of the most devastating effects of the proliferation of SALW as a result of spillover effect of the recent crises in Libya and Mali as well as unresolved internal conflicts in different parts of the country especially in the North East, Niger Delta and Southern regions,” Ige added.

In figures , the United Nations official disclosed that “ while reliable data on the numbers of these weapons circulating freely in the country is unavailable, ana-lysts have in recent times estimated that of the about 500 million weapons that might be circulating in West Africa in 2010, some 70 per cent of these could be found in Nigeria.”

This boils down to about 350 million SALW in the hands of different shades of people in country with a population of 150 million. That is alarming to the extent that the whole nation is highly militarized with various ethnic militia springing up daily. There is the 1959 Firearms Act which regulates the use of weapons.

This law that came into being prior to Independence is what is still in place today. For a country that went through Civil War be-tween 1967 and 1970, a lot has changed. The challenges of today were not envisaged during the donkey years of British colonial rule.

The Federal Government must also believe that the country is in danger. It will make no sense to presume that with all these weapons flying around in free hands, the Armed Forces will enjoy a walk over in any crisis that emerges. These Small Arms and Light Weapons can keep even a ragtag army in business for a long while.

The military have the advantage of air cover as well as artillery and armoured tanks. This has not translated into an easy ride. Boko Haram fighters have relied majorly on light weapons to annex towns and villages in the North East. Fighter jets and bombers have not stopped them from keeping the war alive.

The proliferation of arms explains the rising wave of militancy and criminality. From Niger Delta militants, there are new groups emerging in areas that were hitherto inactive. Boko Haram became even more dangerous following the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddaffi in 2010.

At the end of that ugly revolution arms flooded the North providing a huge market for the terror organization. Recent robbery attacks especially in the South West show that criminals have more weapons than the Nigeria Police Force.

These dare devil robbers destroy bullion vans , attack police teams and even dare soldiers. They blow up bank vaults, terrorise communities and boldly abduct monarchs. These weapons do not come cheap. They cost quite some fortune.

How the entire system became full of arms and ammunition is what everyone must be worried about. A man carrying an AK-47 assault rifle which goes for close to half a million naira will not in anyway settle for a job that will fetch him our 18,000 Naira minimum wage.

And the jobs some of the militants who dropped their guns got do not yield over 100,000 naira at the end of the month. It is therefore obvious that many of those who embraced amnesty did so without dropping all the weapons in their possession.

Since Nigeria’s population is about 150 million, it is inconceivable that each compatriot possesses a gun . Even at that, we will be talking of 150 million guns. To have 350 million SALW calls for concern. It shows that some citizens have a lot in their armoury.

When new groups emerge threatening to blow up pipelines or declare independence, government should not dismiss them with such bamboozling military slogans as ‘we will crush them like Boko Haram’. Some of these men are as experienced in weapon handling as our regular troops.

President Muhammadu Buhari must therefore fix the economy so that militancy and terrorism will become less attractive. When there are no jobs for millions of Nigerians, the best job for the desperate ones is the available alternative.

Definitely one AK-47 is worth more than bread and butter. While we support the fight against corruption , we also advise Mr. President to wage a more serious war on unemployment for a hungry man is an angry man. An armed angry man is not just a threat to national security, he is a bomb waiting to explode. Nigeria could do with less weapons.

Glean: New Telegraph