Insecurity: Expert calls for action to control Spread of small arms
Insecurity: Expert calls for action to control Spread of small arms
Security expert and Executive Director of LITE AFRICA Hon Joel Bisina has blamed the security situation and crisis in Nigeria on the influx of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) into the country.
According to him, the influx of SALW into the country is contributing immensely and worsening the situation, hence he called on the government to initiate steps towards protecting Nigerian borders from the inflow of illicit weapons.
Facilitating a training for security personnel on border security and management, which was organised by Leadership Initiative for Transformation and Empowerment (LITE-Africa), with support from EU and ECOWAS Commission in Calabar, Bisina stated it has become imperative to take urgent actions against to control the inflow.
He said that the wide availability, stockpile and illicit flows of such weapons tend to escalate conflicts, undermine peace, intensify violence and impact on crime, thereby impeding economic and social development.
He added that the inflow would also have a negative impact on democracy and good governance. According to the security expert the training was part of an integrated project designed by LITE-Africa, a Warri-based NGO, to support the mandate of ECOWAS in addressing the peace and security challenges in the West African.
He explained that the project, SALW Action, employs a mix of strategies including capacity building, sensitisation, disarmament and creation of alternative and inclusive socio-economic pathways.
He added that the training is designed to equip the security agents with modern methods and strategies of border management as well as strategies of collaborative policing, intelligence and information gathering and sharing.
The trainer noted, the training which is mainly a pilot community weapons collection programme is an initiative of the ECOWAS Commission that is being funded by the European Union under the “EU support to ECOWAS Peace, Security and Stability Mandate (ECOWAS-EU PSS Programme)”.
He listed the seven countries involved in the pilot phase of the programme to include Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Niger and Mali.
Insecurity: Expert calls for action to control Spread of small arms
