IGP Disu calls for African collaboration to tackle arms proliferation

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, has recognized the proliferation of small arms and light-weight weapons as one of many gravest threats to peace and safety throughout Africa, noting that the weapons don’t respect borders.

Disu said this in his opening speech on the opening ceremony of the Small Arms and Light Weapons Identification and Tracing (SALW-IT) simulation programme in Abuja on Monday.

He pressured the necessity for collaboration amongst African nations to strengthen their collective capability within the identification, marking, registration and tracing of small arms, mild weapons and ammunition.

“That risk is obvious. The proliferation of small arms and light-weight weapons stays one of many gravest risks to peace and safety throughout Africa. These weapons don’t respect borders. They gas terrorism, armed banditry, kidnapping, communal battle and organised crime — from the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin to each nook of our continent.

“Nigeria, like many of our sister nations, has borne the human and economic cost of this scourge. We understand — painfully — that no country can win this fight alone,” he stated.

He added, “That is why the central goal of this programme is so important: to strengthen our collective capability within the identification, marking, registration and tracing of small arms, mild weapons and ammunition.

“A weapon that can’t be traced is a lifeless finish for any investigation. Identification and tracing are usually not mere technical procedures. They are the muse of accountability. They are the gateway to intelligence. They are the important thing that hyperlinks a recovered weapon to the community, the financier, and the route behind it.

“I am particularly pleased that this programme places a premium on practical, hands-on learning through simulation. Theory must be matched by practice. The simulation exercises — including the indoor shooting scenarios to be conducted at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre — will place each participant under realistic conditions that closely mirror the operational realities our officers face daily in the field.”

The contributors have been drawn from Chad, the Central African Republic, Mali, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.

The IGP stated the Nigeria Police Force was totally dedicated not solely to the goals of the programme but additionally to the broader regional and continental effort to management the proliferation of small arms and light-weight weapons.

“We will continue to provide the enabling environment, institutional support and operational cooperation required to sustain the gains of this training,” he stated.