FG to probe arms influx from Gulf of Guinea

National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has said the Federal Government would probe Gulf of Guinea (GoG) as a major source of illegal arms into Nigeria.

Ribadu said this at a two-day seminar on Climate Change and the Changing Dynamics of Arms Proliferation and Insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea: Nigeria in Perspective, yesterday in Abuja.

The seminar was organised by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Office of the National Security Adviser, in collaboration with the Global Network for Human Development.

Ribadu, who was represented by the Director of External Affairs, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Ibrahim Babani, said the GoG had abundant natural resources and mineral deposits, boasting of an estimated 24 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, contributing roughly five million barrels daily to global crude chain.

According to him, the region constitutes of 16 countries including Nigeria, spread along its roughly 6,000 kilometres of unbroken coastline.

“It is the maritime gateway between Africa and the rest of the world. However, the lucrative nature of the GoG in terms of natural resources, movement of ships and related economic activities attracts strange bedfellows and men of the underworld with ulterior motives pursuing nefarious activities in the GoG.

“Organised crime syndicates are involved in various devastating crimes, notably drug trafficking, human trafficking, oil theft, kidnapping and hostage-taking of ship crews, piracy, smuggling of contraband goods.
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The NSA said there was need for additional interrogation of the nexus between climate change, armed violence and the proliferation of arms within the countries of the GoG.

The Director General of NCCSALW, retired DIG Johnson Kokumo, said the impact of climate change had become a significant contributor to displacement and instability in various regions, particularly the Gulf of Guinea.

Kokumo said it was also a significant driver of instability and conflict in vulnerable regions across the world with criminal networks exploiting the situation.

According to him, the instability has, in turn, fuelled the demand for arms, contributing to the rise in the proliferation of small arms and light weapons