The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), is collaborating with the Nigerian armed forces and the Nigerian Police Force to curb the menace of illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons across the country.
The collaboration according to the National Coordinator Major General Abba Dikko (Rtd), has become necessary given the rising rate of crime which is becoming incessant by the day.
To this end, the center has visited the Chief of Defence staff, General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Air staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, and the Inspector General of Police(IGP), Alkali Baba Usman to solicit their support.
NCCSALW Director of Strategic Communications and Information, Group Captain Ewejide Akintunde, who made this known in a statement said, Dikko pointed out that issues related to firearms have been backed by an act of the National Assembly and the Nigeria Police is the lead agency in its enforcement.
He, therefore noted the effective functioning of the NCCSALW would depend on the support and cooperation of the Nigeria Police bearing in mind that all activities of the Centre would be hinged primarily on the existing capacity, processes and procedures enshrined in the duties and responsibilities of the Nigeria Police.
He went further to state that the Centre seeks to galvanize the whole-of-nation support in order to bring on board stakeholders and civil society organizations in line with the guidelines enshrined in the UN and ECOWAS protocols.
The Coordinator disclosed that the NCCSALW will aggregate all weapons and related material that have been mopped up from the society and manage the stockpile leading up to its destruction.
He said the Centre also plans to institutionalize the process of marking all weapons holdings of security agencies and maintain a national database that would help to keep track of all small arms and light weapons in the country to ensure traceability in case the weapons fall into wrong hands.
Dikko revealed that the Center is working assiduously to put in place a structure that would metamorphose into a National Commission while steering the mandate of checkmating and mopping up illicit arms and related materials in the country.
