ECOWAS Building. Photo: ECOWAS
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has urged member states to strengthen measures against the diversion of legally acquired arms for illicit purposes, warning that such diversion poses a serious threat to national security.
The warning came as the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) disclosed that it has destroyed more than 17,000 unserviceable, obsolete and decommissioned weapons, as well as over 20,000 rounds of illicit ammunition, since its establishment in 2021.
The disclosures were made on Monday in Port Harcourt during a five-day In-Security Training on Physical Security, Stockpile Management and Property Management for National Security in Nigeria.
The training was organised by the ECOWAS Small Arms Division in partnership with the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies.
In his address, the Acting Head of the ECOWAS Small Arms Division, Abayomi Adeomi, commended the Federal Government, NCCSALW and the Rivers State Government for their support and cooperation in hosting the programme.
Adeomi said the partnership between ECOWAS and the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies had helped translate the regional body’s commitment into practical capacity-building programmes for member states.
He said the training was taking place against the backdrop of persistent and complex security challenges across West Africa, stressing that efforts to combat arms proliferation must go beyond illegal cross-border trafficking.
“While most attention is often paid to weapons trafficked across borders, we must equally remain vigilant about the diversion of weapons from legally authorised stockpiles of Member States,” Adeomi said.
He noted that effective stockpile management was critical to national security, conflict prevention, peacebuilding and accountable security-sector governance.
According to him, accurate inventories, strict control of national stockpiles, routine inspections, safe handling procedures, competent personnel and the timely destruction of surplus and obsolete weapons were essential safeguards against diversion, theft, loss and accidental explosions.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the NCCSALW, Johnson Kokumo, said the centre had destroyed more than 17,000 illicit, unserviceable, obsolete and decommissioned weapons and over 20,000 rounds of illicit ammunition since its inception.
Kokumo, who was represented by the Zonal Director, South-South, Alex Ebimiebo, said the Federal Government established the centre in 2021 to provide a permanent and stronger institutional framework for tackling the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country.
He recalled that Nigeria’s efforts to address the problem predated the establishment of the centre, with the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM) inaugurated in 2013 as a multi-agency mechanism for coordinating national efforts against illicit arms proliferation.
Ebimiebo said the NCCSALW had continued to prioritise capacity building for the armed forces, police, law enforcement officers and relevant agencies.
He added that particular attention had been placed on weapons and ammunition management, physical security, stockpile management, marking and tracking, record keeping, weapons identification and strengthening institutional procedures to prevent the loss and diversion of arms.
