The Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Amin Al-Kanem, say the proliferation of small and light arms through international sources in the Northeast must be stopped.
The monarch, who gave the warning while receiving the Coordinator of the National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), S.A Mohammed, on Monday, said if the situation is not handled, it will affect the relative peace being enjoyed recently in the zone.
He said, “The Northeast shares international borders with three countries that have experienced a lot of armed conflicts in recent years, which has contributed to the smuggling of SALWs into the zone.”
Shehu said the consequences of the light arms and weapons were prolonging conflicts in Nigeria, with negative impacts on peace efforts and socioeconomic development.
“Therefore, the Northeast zonal centre should not be deterred in the task ahead, and we assure your team our unalloyed support in this task”.
He also assured that the traditional rulers under him comprising 59 district heads, 591 village heads and 7,000 ward heads will all render their support in areas of advocacy/ recovery of illicit SALW from the society.
In his remarks, Mohammed stressed the importance of traditional institutions as a critical stakeholder in public awareness in the framework of promotion of the culture of peace and non-violence, which is one of the core functions of the National Centre.
