The Federal Government says it will establish offices for the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Spokesperson of the NCCSALW, Ewejide Akintunde, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in May, approved the establishment of the centre, and appointed Maj.-General Abba Dikko, as pioneer coordinator of the centre.
The statement said the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police have expressed commitment to support the centre to deliver on its mandate, during Dikko’s visit to the Armed Forces Complex, Abuja.
Dikko said the effective functioning of the centre will depend on the support and cooperation of security agencies, bearing in mind that the activities of the centre will “be hinged primarily on the existing capacity, processes and procedures enshrined in the duties and responsibilities of the force”.
“He further stated that the Centre seeks to galvanise the whole-of-nation support in order to bring on board stakeholders and civil society organisations in line with the guidelines enshrined in the UN and ECOWAS protocols,” the statement reads.
“The Coordinator said that the NCCSALW will aggregate all weapons and related materials that have been mopped up from the society and manage the stockpile leading up to its destruction,” he said.
“Dikko also said the Centre plans to institutionalise the process of marking all weapons holdings of security agencies, and maintain a national database that would help to keep track of all small arms and light weapons in the country to ensure traceability in case the weapons fall into the wrong hands.”
In response, Irabor congratulated Dikko on his appointment and noted that the significant reduction of illicit arms flow is the collective responsibility of all stakeholders.
Irabor also urged the centre to remain resolute until they attain success in their mission.
