Small arms: Buhari seeks cooperation of neighbouring countries

President Muhammadu Buhari has called for wider cooperation among countries of Sahel and Saharan regions to counter the infiltration of small arms to Nigeria.

Buhari noted the importance of not allowing the flow of small arms into the hands of militia forces, bandits and insurgents who are becoming a threat to human rights and internal security.

He made this call in N’Djamena, the Chadian capital, where he is attending one-day Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, CEN-SAD, alongside his host and current Chairperson of CEN-SAD, Idriss Deby Itno and their counterparts from Niger and Togo, with high-level representations from other member-countries.

The President, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu in Abuja, stated that Nigeria under President Buhari has worked closely with immediate neighbours in the last few years to stem the widespread availability of small arms and light weapons making their way into Nigeria, but the “very disturbing recent developments” have impelled the administration to seek support from a wider circle of countries if the illegal inflows are to be curtailed.

He said that the President was also putting on the table for discussions, the problems of irregular migration, trafficking in persons, especially of women and children as part of the security nature of his engagements.

According to the statement, “It is in view of the significance of this organisation and the role it can play in furthering domestic security that President Buhari ordered the reinvigoration of our nation’s interest, approved the payment of the backlog of unpaid funds and for a speedier work on the processes of the ratification of the treaty binding the members of the organisation.

“While in N’Djamena, President Buhari is also expected to press for the protection of the well-being of the large population of Nigerians living both legally and illegally in Libya, which is the host country of the CEN-SAD Secretariat.”