Nigeria is under a security siege. The rapine is being fuelled by huge arms in wrong hands, resulting in massive killings, kidnappings, violent cult activities and terrorism. The extremists are emboldened by their access to imported and locally fabricated small arms and light weapons. They use the weapons to threaten the peace, viability, prosperity, and sovereignty of the country. The government of President Bola Tinubu must launch a strategic and comprehensive programme to mop up illegal arms before criminals tip Nigeria over the precipice.

Another evidence of arms proliferation came recently when soldiers attached to Operation Safe Haven discovered an isolated illegal weapons fabrication factory in Pakachi village, Mangu Local Government Area, Plateau State. Reports stated that several SALWs, including five AK-47 rifles, four AK-47 magazines, 21 Dane guns, four revolver rifles, 11 pistols with five magazines, gun barrels (17), and others were recovered. The soldiers arrested a suspect, though the owner of the factory had reportedly fled.

Like many other areas in the North-Central, Mangu has become a hotbed of massacres, arson, kidnapping, and rape. In January, 30 persons were slaughtered there despite a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Mangu town.

On Christmas Eve, The Red Cross stated that 161 persons were killed, and 39,350 displaced in 84 communities in three LGAs, including Bokkos and Barkin Ladi. The discovery of the factory reinforces the notion that criminals have easy access to weapons. The government must dig deeper, without recourse to sentiments, to permanently quell the incessant massacres in Plateau by controlling arms.

Indeed, the proliferation of illegal firearms in the country is alarming. According to a survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the illicit SALWs in Nigeria is at 70 per cent or 350 million out of the estimated 500 million in West Africa. The arms pour in through the official and unofficial borders. In 2017, Customs seized 2,671 weapons at the Lagos ports.

Thus, anarchy is rife. Under Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023), 63,111 Nigerians died in violence. The killings under Tinubu are estimated at 5,135 or 22.6 persons daily from May to December. Nigeria was ranked the eighth most terrorised country in the world by the 2023 Global Terrorism Index.

On its part, the National Security Tracker by the Council of Foreign Relations stated that non-state actors kidnapped 4,611 persons in 2022. The proliferation is compounded by the absence of effective state policing.

In contrast, after just one mass shooting incident each, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia enacted strict gun control laws.

The PUNCH has consistently impressed it upon the government to trace the routes of SALWs into Nigeria, intensify strict border controls, especially across the porous Sahel region. It should strengthen existing laws while enacting and enforcing other stringent laws against the illegal manufacturing, ownership, and use of SALWs. Desperate politicians and their agents who supply weapons to hoodlums to compromise election outcomes should not be spared.

In Nigeria, weapons meant for security enforcement must be tracked to ensure that they do not fall into the hands of criminals. The government should control arms by negotiating with countries where SALWs are imported into Nigeria to help impede such outflow. The disposal of illicit weapons is also crucial. These must be destroyed; otherwise, they may be clandestinely retrieved for violent purposes.

Urgently, all security agencies, including Customs, and the Department of State Services, should collaborate to achieve a massive mop-up of illicit weapons in the country.

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