FG Arms Control Centre Seeks NYSC Support to Tackle Gun Proliferation in Northeast
By Luka Yelmi
The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has called on members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in the Northeast to play an active role in efforts to curb the proliferation of illicit weapons across the region.
The call was made on Tuesday during sensitisation visits to NYSC Orientation Camps in Potiskum, Yobe State, and Maiduguri, Borno State.
The Northeast Zonal Director of the NCCSALW, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (Rtd.), was represented in Potiskum by Mr Aminu Saleh Mohammed, Assistant Director, Strategic Communication and Information, while Mr Stephen Inau Mshelia, Chief Programme Officer, Intelligence, represented him in Maiduguri.
Gen. Adamu said the active participation of corps members would strengthen efforts to address insecurity associated with the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the region.
“NCCSALW was established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser to serve as the institutional framework for regulating and controlling SALW in Nigeria. Your involvement is key to tackling insecurity and the spread of illicit weapons,” he said.
He warned that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons continues to fuel banditry, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery and insurgency.
According to him, the illegal arms trade also undermines development, promotes black-market activities, exposes young people to violence, heightens trans-border insecurity and creates fear within communities.
The zonal director urged corps members to become positive role models and ambassadors at their respective places of primary assignment.
“When you get to your places of primary assignment, be good ambassadors of your parents, the NYSC, your state and yourselves by reporting anyone in possession of, or involved in the fabrication of small arms and light weapons,” he said.
He also appealed to parents and guardians to instil values of tolerance, peaceful coexistence and responsible citizenship in their children, while paying close attention to behavioural changes that could require early intervention.
Speaking in Maiduguri, Gen. Adamu called on scholars and religious leaders to educate their congregations on the dangers posed by illicit small arms and light weapons.
He further urged them to support reconciliation and reintegration initiatives aimed at encouraging extremists to abandon violence and facilitating the reintegration of repentant individuals into society.
“They should caution their congregations against the use of illicit SALW and facilitate reconciliation between extremists and victims to support successful reintegration and surrender,” he said.
As part of its community-based approach to tackling arms proliferation, the NCCSALW also proposed the establishment of Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) groups in all states of the Northeast.
The centre said such CDS groups are already operational in Borno and Yobe states.
The NYSC Coordinators in Yobe and Borno, Mr Okochi Okpara and Mallam Nasir Bello, respectively, welcomed the proposal and expressed their readiness to collaborate with the NCCSALW.
They assured that necessary arrangements would be made to establish the groups and strengthen joint sensitisation campaigns at strategic locations across the region.