By Saidu Idris
365Daily – Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, has warned that the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons is fueling terrorism, organised crime, conflicts and humanitarian crises across Africa.
Speaking on behalf of the African Group at the 9th Biennial Meeting of States on the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, Ibrahim said the problem remains a major global security challenge despite decades of international efforts.
He noted that “twenty-five years after the adoption of the Programme of Action and twenty-one years after the International Tracing Instrument, the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons continues to fuel armed violence across the world.”
Describing the situation in Africa as particularly alarming, Ibrahim said small arms and light weapons have become the continent’s “true weapons of mass destruction,” driving “terrorism, transnational organised crime, prolonged conflicts, humanitarian crises, and the loss of countless lives.”
According to him, the African Group views the meeting as an opportunity to “translate longstanding commitments into measurable outcomes,” adding that Africa’s participation is guided by the Common African Position on combating illicit arms.
He said African countries have strengthened legal and regulatory frameworks governing the entire life cycle of small arms and light weapons, including their manufacture, marking, stockpile management and disposal, while also investing in national coordinating bodies and action plans to tackle the problem.
On diversion of weapons, Ibrahim stressed that preventing arms from falling into the wrong hands remains central to Africa’s agenda.
He called for stronger physical security and stockpile management measures, improved end-user controls, monitoring systems, investigations and information-sharing mechanisms.
The Nigerian envoy also urged the international community to “criminalise the conversion of deactivated, blank-firing, and non-lethal firearms into fully functional weapons.”
He further reiterated Africa’s call for a prohibition on the transfer of small arms and light weapons to “unauthorized non-state actors, including criminal and terrorist organisations engaged in violent activities.”