Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has called for closer cooperation among African countries to disrupt illicit arms trafficking.
Disu says the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is fuelling terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, and organised crime across the continent.
The Nigeria Police Chief spoke in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, while opening a five-day Small Arms and Light Weapons Identification and Tracing Simulation Programme involving participants from twelve African countries.
The programme runs until October 16, combining technical instruction with practical exercises at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre.
Participants are learning to identify, mark, register, and trace weapons and ammunition.
Disu said weapons tracing can help investigators uncover trafficking networks, identify financiers, and track supply routes.
He called for timely intelligence sharing, coordinated investigations, and cooperation in locating and lawfully arresting suspects involved in cross-border crimes.
He said established legal and institutional channels were essential to preventing offenders from exploiting national borders to evade justice.
IGP Disu also linked arms control to preparations for the country’s 2027 general elections.
He said disrupting illicit supplies would help prevent electoral violence and intimidation while protecting voters and election officials.
Disu revealed that police chiefs from West and East African countries would meet to develop coordinated responses to cross-border crime.
The training is supported by AFRIPOL, INTERPOL, the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies, relevant African Union bodies, and experts from the German Armed Forces Verification Centre.
Participants represent Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Mali, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, Benin and the Republic of the Congo.
(Follow AIT News on WhatsApp, AfricaIndependentTV on YouTube, ait_online on Facebook and X (Formerly Twitter), and officialait on TikTok, Instagram and Threads).
(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
