South East – Enugu

The South-East Zonal Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Retired Major General Okechukwu Ugo, has called for collaboration of stakeholders in the fight to curb illicit flow of arms and light weapons, as it poses a threat to economic growth and development.

Gen. Ugo stated this at a one-day seminar on the control of proliferation of small arms and illicit weapons held on Thursday in Enugu

He disclosed that the Centre had recovered and destroyed 6,000 illicit and obsolete small arms and light weapons from various areas in the country.

These recoveries and destruction exercises, which were in line with UN conventions, had contributed immensely to prevent the recycling of these illicit arms back into our society,” General Ugo stated.

He noted that the exercises had contributed immensely to enhance the safety and security in Nigeria and globally.

Gen. Ugo pointed out that the Centre, realising the need for sub-regional, regional and global partnerships in the fight against the menace of illicit arms, had engaged and continued to engage various international stakeholders in the field.

He recalled that the Centre recently hosted representatives of all countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to a two-day conference in Abuja where participants fashioned out ways of sharing intelligence to ensure that cross-border trafficking and illicit trade of small arms and light weapons were checkmated.

The Centre, he added, also participates in various regional and global fora on SALW under the auspices of ECOWAS, AU and UN regularly to ensure that Nigeria conforms to global best practices in this regard.

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