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Tag: Arms

  • FG must permit Nigerians to bear arms for self-defence – Sagay

    FG must permit Nigerians to bear arms for self-defence – Sagay

    The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, says the Federal Government must permit Nigerians to bear arms in order to defend themselves.

    He said that his call was necessitated by increased unprovoked attacks against hapless Nigerians by bandits and other criminals across the nation and the seeming helplessness of the security forces.

    The legal luminary in a report published by Daily Independent, bemoaned the heightened insecurity in the country, describing it as unprecedented.

    Itse Sagay said it was evident that the Federal Government has become overwhelmed by killings, rapes, maimings and kidnappings perpetrated by criminal groups like Boko Haram, bandits, kidnappers, and killer herdsmen.

    He said it was therefore right for Nigerians to be given the backing to protect themselves from such atrocities.

    “The country has become so dangerous. All sorts of things are happening nowa­days. You have kidnappers, bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram. The reality is that there is nowhere that is safe in the country. Traveling by road today is a very risky endeavour that one will hard­ly try. So, there is total insecu­rity in the country.

    “I don’t know what has gone wrong, why our people have become so violent and savage. Individuals no lon­ger feel safe outside his own house. I am not even sure that one is absolutely safe in his own house.

    “What I will like to suggest to the government is that they should allow ordinary Nigeri­ans to carry arms. Everybody who wants to carry arms as a form of self-defence should be allowed to do so. This is necessary so that when these bandits and miscreants attack them, they will know that the person they attacked has the capacity to defend himself.

    “All these restrictions on owning weapons should be lifted. Let the generality of the public be allowed to own weapons, especially in all those villages where they are being massacred. Their men should be given weapons so that when the attackers come, they will also be given a chal­lenge which may discourage them in future.

    “We have had causes where bandits attacked villages but the people are powerless to de­fend themselves. By the time the security agents come in, the attackers had left. They will look for a quiet time and launch another attack. That will stop if the people have the capacity to defend them­selves,” Says Sagay as Quoted by Daily Independent

  • Attack on officials: We need to bear arms, FRSC boss begs Buhari for approval

    Attack on officials: We need to bear arms, FRSC boss begs Buhari for approval

    Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has said that the corps would require the executive approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to bear arms.

    Oyeyemi, at briefing with journalists said in the light of the recent attack, kidnap and killing of personnel of the corps across the country, the corps need to bear arms.

    “What does the law says? What does the act of the corps says. The act of the corps as far back as 1992 empowers the corps to bear arms that was about 28 years ago.

    “But again the corps management then and the council believes more on civil approach.

    “But of recent, our staff were attacked, kidnapped, killed in the course of patrol. That is why the public has been advocating for the corps to bear arms.

    “Some sections of the public says look, it is high time the corps is protected, some are saying no. But again the final decision lies with Mr President to activate what the law says.

    “It is not for me, I have said it in my report but I think the government will take the best decision but the law of the corps empowers us to bear arms.

    “But Mr president as the commander in chief has the final say on when the corps can bear arms. Even though the law authorised you but you still need executive approval to do that so on that we stand.”

    On corrupt practice of personnel, Oyeyemi said that the organisation had partnered with the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission and other related matters (ICPC) to checkmate corrupt practices by its personnel.

    “We cannot run away from it, we cannot say our boys are fully perfect. When I came in and I saw what was happening, we have monitoring teams.

    “When it was overwhelming, I met the Chairman of the ICPC and said I need a helping hand with the DSS to partner and three of us collaborated. We go on surveillance, both on the highways and drivers licensing yard.

    “This checkmate the bad behaviour of the boys. I think it must be on record that we got partners with ICPC and DSS to ensure the quality of the organisation to the public.

    “Even though we still have some bad elements, but by and large, the partnership has enable us to checkmate corrupt practices within the system.

    “We must say it in this kind of forum that on corruption, we are one of the agencies that are well respected tackling corrupt practices.

    “I am not saying we are corrupt free but it is the ability of the organisation to tackle it that gives that recognition,‘’ he said.

  • I never said FRSC officers should bear arms, Reps C’ttee chairman debunks report

    I never said FRSC officers should bear arms, Reps C’ttee chairman debunks report

    By Emman Ovuakporie
    Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Federal Roads Safety Corps, FRSC, Hon Mayowa Akinfilarin, on Monday debunked reports that he said road safety officers will soon start carrying arms.
    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports that the lawmaker claimed that the misleading report had made him to receive threats from all shades of Nigerians.
    The lawmaker who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja said:
    “Since the misleading report was published I have received threat phone calls telling me that why should I make such a proposal when that of police is already causing stress.
    He said: Even my constituents called to complain that I shouldn’t have made such a proposal.
    “There was no time we discussed that when the corps top brass came to defend their 2021 budget as insinuated in the said report.
    “We never in any way made such a proposal at the budget defence hearing, ” the Ondo lawmaker added.
  • Weapons used by killer-herdsmen from Turkey, Libya, Ivory Coast – Report

    Weapons used by killer-herdsmen from Turkey, Libya, Ivory Coast – Report

    Weapons being used in inter-communal violence that has killed thousands of people in northern Nigeria have been trafficked from Ivory Coast, Libya and Turkey, according to a new report by the Conflict Armament Research group.

    Fighting between farmers and semi-nomadic herders over land has gone on for decades in Nigeria´s central belt and north. Attacks on civilians by armed groups aligned with the communities have killed more than 3,600 people and displaced 300,000 since 2014, according to the study.

    Armed groups involved in the fighting in Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara states possessed “significant numbers of factory-produced small arms manufactured in Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and North America,” according to the three-year study.

    Some of the weapons were from Turkey and were linked to a major organized trafficking network, the group said.

    Assault rifles from Iraq and similar to ones used by Islamic extremist groups in Mali and Niger also were found. However, the organization said that while weapons may have come from the same illicit source, that did not demonstrate a connection between the conflict in Nigeria and Islamic extremist groups.

    “Nigerian authorities have made strides in gathering illicit weapons from these communities over the last three years,” said Conflict Armament Research’s head of regional operations in West Africa, Claudio Gramizzi. “Preventing their rapid replacement requires efforts by law enforcement across the Sahel, as well as targeted interdiction of new arms being trafficked from Europe and Western Asia.”

  • US defence firms dominate $420b global arms sale

    US defence firms dominate $420b global arms sale

    Defence firms in the United States accounted for more than half of the $240 billion global sales of military equipment and services by the world’s top 100 arms groups in 2018.

    Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish-based institute made this known on Monday in its report on Top 100 arms producing and military services companies last year.

    SIPRI noted that arms sales increased by 4.6 per cent compared with 2017 and 47 per cent since 2002, the year from which comparable data was first available.

    According to SIPRI, for the first time since 2002, the top five spots in the Top 100 ranking are held exclusively by arms companies based in the United States: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics. These five companies alone accounted for $148 billion and 35 per cent of total Top 100 arms sales in 2018. Total arms sales of US companies in the ranking amounted to $246 billion, equivalent to 59 per cent of all arms sales by the Top 100. This is an increase of 7.2 per cent compared with 2017.

    A key development in the US arms industry in 2018 was the growing trend in consolidations among some of the largest arms producers. For example, two of the top five, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics, made multibillion-dollar acquisitions in 2018.

    ‘US companies are preparing for the new arms modernization programme that was announced in 2017 by President Trump,’ says Aude Fleurant, Director of SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘Large US companies are merging to be able to produce the new generation of weapon systems and therefore be in a better position to win contracts from the US Government.’

    Russian companies’ arms sales remain stable
    The combined arms sales of the 10 Russian companies in the 2018 ranking were $36.2 billion—a marginal decrease of 0.4 per cent on 2017. Their share of total Top 100 arms sales fell from 9.7 per cent in 2017 to 8.6 per cent in 2018. This can be explained by the higher Top 100 total in 2018 due to the substantial growth in the combined arms sales of US and European companies.

    Among the 10 Russian companies listed in the Top 100, the trends are mixed: five companies recorded an increase in arms sales, while the other five showed a decrease. Russia’s largest arms producer, Almaz-Antey, was the only Russian company ranked in the top 10 (at 9th position) and accounted for 27 per cent of the total arms sales of Russian companies in the Top 100. Almaz-Antey’s arms sales rose by 18 per cent in 2018, to $9.6 billion.

    ‘Arms sales by Almaz-Antey, the largest arms producer in Russia, continued to grow in 2018,’ says Alexandra Kuimova, Researcher for SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘This increase was due not only to strong domestic demand, but also to continued growth in sales to other countries, particularly of the S-400 air defence system.’

    Arms sales increase for French companies but decrease for British and German companies
    The combined arms sales of the 27 European companies in the Top 100 increased marginally in 2018, to $102 billion. Arms sales by companies based in the UK fell by 4.8 per cent, to $35.1 billion, but remained the highest in Europe. BAE Systems (ranked 6th) is the world’s largest arms producer outside of the USA. Its arms sales dropped by 5.2 per cent in 2018, to $21.2 billion.

    ‘Six of the eight UK-based companies listed in the Top 100 reported a reduction in arms sales in 2018,’ says Nan Tian, Researcher for SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘This was partly due to delays in the UK’s arms modernisation programme.’

    The combined arms sales of French companies in the Top 100 were the second highest in Europe, at $23.2 billion. ‘The overall growth in arms sales of the six French companies in the SIPRI Top 100 was mainly the result of a 30 per cent increase in sales by combat aircraft producer Dassault Aviation,’ says Diego Lopes da Silva, Researcher for SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme.

    The total combined sales of the four German arms-producing companies in the ranking fell by 3.8 per cent. ‘An increase in deliveries of military vehicles by Rheinmetall, the largest arms company based in Germany, were offset by a drop in sales by shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp,’ says Pieter D. Wezeman, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme.

    Other notable developments in the Top 100
    Eighty of the 100 top arms producers in 2018 were based in the USA, Europe and Russia. Of the remaining 20, 6 were based in Japan, 3 in Israel, India and South Korea, respectively, 2 in Turkey and 1 each in Australia, Canada and Singapore.

    The combined arms sales of the six Japanese companies remained relatively stable in 2018. At $9.9 billion, they accounted for 2.4 per cent of the Top 100 total.

    The three Israeli companies’ arms sales of $8.7 billion accounted for 2.1 per cent of the Top 100 total. Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael all increased their arms sales in 2018.

    The combined arms sales of the three Indian arms companies listed in the Top 100 were $5.9 billion in 2018—a decrease of 6.9 per cent on 2017. The decline is mainly a result of Indian Ordnance Factory’s significant 27 per cent drop in arms sales.

    The three companies based in South Korea had combined arms sales of $5.2 billion in 2018, equivalent to 1.2 per cent of the Top 100 total. Their collective arms sales in 2018 were 9.9 per cent higher than in 2017. Bucking the trend, however, was LIG Nex1, whose sales fell by 17 per cent in 2018. The shipbuilder DSME, which was ranked in 2017, dropped out of the Top 100 in 2018.

    Arms sales by Turkish companies listed in the Top 100 increased by 22 per cent in 2018, to $2.8 billion. Turkey aims to develop and modernize its arms industry and Turkish companies continued to benefit from these efforts in 2018.

    Created in 1966 by the Swedish parliament, SIPRI tracks military spending and arms transfers.

  • How ex-governor Amosun surrendered guns, ammunition acquired for 2019 elections

    Details of how former governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun surrendered million rounds of ammunition, AK47 rifles, vests and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) few hours to the end of his reign as governor have been revealed.

    A report by Premium Times revealed that the disgraced former governor contacted the state’s Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, confessing that he had thousands of arms and millions of ammunition in store at a secret armoury in Government House, and that he had decided to hand them over to the police.

    Amosun’s anointed candidate for the March 9 governorship election, Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), had been roundly defeated by Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress and the governor was now desperate to clear the Government House of any incriminating material as Abiodun moved in to take charge.

    Shortly after he was contacted, Commissioner Makama raced to Government House with some of his subordinates. On arrival, truckloads of arms and ammunition were brought out of a nondescript armoury inside the Ogun State Government House.

    And then began a short hand-over proceeding during which the governor surrendered at least four million rounds of ammunition, 1,000 units of AK47 assault rifles, 1,000 units of bulletproof vests and an armoured personnel carrier (APC).

    At the event, Amosun said he procured the arms and ammunition to check the widespread insecurity in his state of 3,751,140 residents, according to the 2006 census. He said he decided to keep them at the Government House Armoury to ensure they were not allocated indiscriminately by security agencies.

    The speech making over, the arms and ammunition were driven to the police command headquarters in the Elewe-Eran area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    Four weeks after the event, top Nigerian security operatives remained alarmed that a civilian governor would create an armoury and store thousands of arms there. The agents are also wondering why Amosun has not been arrested and prosecuted for violating sections of the Nigeria Firearms Act.

    The law forbids individuals and civilian institutions from illegally operating armouries or possessing prohibited firearms, including artillery, apparatus for the discharge of any explosive or gas diffusing projectile, rocket weapons, bombs and grenades, machine-guns and machine-pistols, military rifles (namely those of calibres 7.62 mm, 9 mm, .300 inches and .303 inches), revolvers and pistols whether rifled or unrifled (including flint-lock pistols and cap pistols).

    It remains unclear how Amosun obtained the weapons. Authorities are wondering how he imported the weapons, and how he transported them to Government House and stored them for prolonged periods without being detected.

    Some security experts say they are suspicious he might have acquired far more weapons than he gave up to the police and that some of them might be in wrong hands already.

    The former governor, now senator, declined to give his own side of the story. He did not answer or return telephone calls made to him over five days. He also did not respond to text and WhatsApp messages sent to him.

    When contacted by PT, his media adviser, Rotimi Durojaiye, was said to have requested an email on the questions meant for Amosun. However, Mr Durojaiye until the publication of this report failed to turn in the answers.

  • Killings: Police to retrain officers, men on arms handling

    In a bid to stem the tide of police brutalities against the civil population, the police authorities have concluded plan to return all officers and men to the range from retraining on arms handling and proficiency.

    The Assistant-Inspector General of Police for Zone 11, Adeleye Oyebade, who made the disclosure at the inauguration of the “Operation Puff Adder” at the Zonal Headquarters along Gbongan-Ibadan road in Osogbo, Osun State capital, said the police could not allow the little mistakes and errors continue to affect the achievements of the Force.

    The Police Commissioners for Osun, Oyo and Ondo States comprising the Zone 11 Police Command, Mrs. Abiodun Ige, Mr. Sina Olukolu and Mr. Undie Adie, were present at the inauguration.

    He said the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in compliance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive have rejigged “our security architecture by launching “a new operational outfit code named ‘Operation Puff Adder.”

    According to him, the new outfit, since its inauguration, has begun to yield positive results, adding that the IGP has directed that the outfit be replicated in all the zonal and state commands to complement existing security structures.

    Oyebade, who said the police has the resources to prosecute the operation, assured that the Force has upgraded its technical platform to fight crimes, including kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism among others.

    He said the new face of the Nigeria Police is proactive and will not allow crimes to overwhelm its officers and men.

    Disclosing that the police has identified flash point and was battle ready to curtail criminal activities across the nation, he maintained that the police is strategic in its planning and operations.

    He further disclosed that the police is sharing information with sister security outfits including the Nigeria Army, Department of State Security Service, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigeria Prisons Service, the Nigeria Immigration Service among others to combat crimes.

    He said the Zone 11 Police Command will soon hold a security stakeholders’ conference, where the Civil Society Organizations, Labour and Industrial Unions, Non-Governmental Organizations will be in attendance.

    The police boss, therefore, called for patience and understanding of members of the public, advising them to always reach out to the police via the control rooms whenever they are in distress.

    He assured that the police will respond promptly whenever called upon by members of the public.

  • Police to retrain officers, men on arms handling

    In a bid to stem the tide of police brutalities against the civil population, the police authorities have concluded plan to return all officers and men to the range from retraining on arms handling and proficiency.

    The Assistant-Inspector General of Police for Zone 11, Adeleye Oyebade, who made the disclosure at the inauguration of the “Operation Puff Adder” at the Zonal Headquarters along Gbongan-Ibadan road in Osogbo, Osun State capital, said the police could not allow the little mistakes and errors continue to affect the achievements of the Force.

    The Police Commissioners for Osun, Oyo and Ondo States comprising the Zone 11 Police Command, Mrs. Abiodun Ige, Mr. Sina Olukolu and Mr. Undie Adie, were present at the inauguration.

    He said the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in compliance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive have rejigged “our security architecture by launching “a new operational outfit code named ‘Operation Puff Adder.”

    According to him, the new outfit, since its inauguration, has begun to yield positive results, adding that the IGP has directed that the outfit be replicated in all the zonal and state commands to complement existing security structures.

    Oyebade, who said the police has the resources to prosecute the operation, assured that the Force has upgraded its technical platform to fight crimes, including kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism among others.

    He said the new face of the Nigeria Police is proactive and will not allow crimes to overwhelm its officers and men.

    Disclosing that the police has identified flash point and was battle ready to curtail criminal activities across the nation, he maintained that the police is strategic in its planning and operations.

    He further disclosed that the police is sharing information with sister security outfits including the Nigeria Army, Department of State Security Service, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigeria Prisons Service, the Nigeria Immigration Service among others to combat crimes.

    He said the Zone 11 Police Command will soon hold a security stakeholders’ conference, where the Civil Society Organizations, Labour and Industrial Unions, Non-Governmental Organizations will be in attendance.

    The police boss, therefore, called for patience and understanding of members of the public, advising them to always reach out to the police via the control rooms whenever they are in distress.

    He assured that the police will respond promptly whenever called upon by members of the public.

  • Killings: Bandits in Zamfara have access to more arms than security agencies, Yari raises alarm

    Killings: Bandits in Zamfara have access to more arms than security agencies, Yari raises alarm

    Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State on Tuesday in Abuja raised alarm over stock piling of arms by bandits operating in the state.

    Yari made this known while speaking with State House correspondents after he had updated President Muhammadu Buhari on the socio-political and security developments in the state.

    The governor, who ruled out dialogue with bandits, said: “I have told my people that dialogue will no longer take place during my time because I have done that three times, but it did not work.

    “This is in the sense that we know their capacity.

    “For instance, during the first dialogue, they invited some of our team, army, DSS, police, and my chief security officer as well as some representatives of traditional rulers and we have seen what they have.

    “They are in control of the kind of weapons that the security command in Zamfara does not have.

    “In one armoury alone, they have more than 500 AK 47 rifles; we saw it.

    “Our people were even given the chance to take pictures.

    “But when we said we will dialogue and offer them amnesty if they surrendered their arms, they refused.

    “I can tell you that till date we have not received up to 90 AK 47 rifles.

    “So it is deceit. That is why I said no more dialogue during my tenure.

    “During dry season they try to get us to dialogue because they know the security forces can get to them anywhere in the forest and they would not have a place to hide.

    “But when the rainy season comes and the forest becomes thicker they return to their normal practice.

    “That is why I said there has to be a show of force before anything else.

    “I know that in any war, eventually you have to come to the table and dialogue, but at this point and given the situation we are in right now, dialogue is not needed.’’

    The governor expressed the hope that the federal government would soon address the security challenges facing the state as it would soon take delivery of military hardware and modern weapons to check the activities of the bandits in the area and beyond.

    “The federal government has already given procurement contracts, inter-government transactions to the United States, China, and other European countries.

    In 2018, the Nigeria Governors Forum, approved one billion dollars to help the federal government equip the security agencies.

    “We believe the equipment will soon come into the country and it is our hope that the equipment will be used so that this worrying situation that we are in will become history,’’ he added.

  • ‘Politicians stockpiling arms ahead of general elections’

    The Director-General of National Taskforce on Small Arms, Light and Chemical Weapons, Dr Emmanuel Okereke, on Tuesday, alleged that some politicians had been stockpiling ammunition ahead of general elections.

    Okereke, who made the allegation in Abuja at a news conference, said the stockpiling of ammunition by desperate politicians was due to the porous nature of the nation’s borders and the non-existence of a specific agency or commission to tackle the menace.

    He said, “Due to the lack of a legally established specific body or commission as obtainable in 14 out of the 16 countries in the West African sub-region, all manner of ammunition have been illegally brought into the country ahead of the elections by high-class political players.

    “For Nigeria to effectively tackle the menace of proliferation of ammunition in the country with its attendant crimes, a National Commission for the Prohibition of Illegal Importation of Small Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons and other related matters, must be established as already done by other West African countries except Nigeria and Gambia.”

    The Commission, he added, was recommended for all West African countries through a resolution passed to that effect by the Economic Community of West Africa States in December 2017.

    “Unfortunately, while 14 out of the 16 member sub-regional body have complied, Nigeria and Gambia have yet to do the needful in that direction,” he added.

    He also stated that before the ECOWAS’s resolution, a bill for the establishment of such a commission had long been sponsored by the national task force.

    He said, “The bill, as it is currently in the 8th Senate, has passed second reading in the House of Representatives but not yet at the Senate having earlier failed to scale through the required legislative processes in the 6th and 7th National Assembly.”

    He said the commission, when established, would not be a burden on the finances of the country but rather a revenue earner.

    He called on the Senate to fast-track action on the bill for the commission to be in place as soon as possible.