By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members serving across the North East sub-region have been called upon to play active roles in curbing the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) across the subregion.
The call was made by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, (NCCSALW) under the Office of the National Security Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on Monday, at the NYSC Orientation camp in Potiskum, Yobe State, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (Rtd), the North-East Zonal Director, NCCSALW, emphasized the importance of joining hands fight with menace.
Maj:-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (Rtd), represented by Aminu Saleh Mohammed, Assistant Director of Strategic Communication and Information of the Centre, said the active involvement of youths, especially Corps members, would significantly help to tackle insecurity as well as the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons.
He explained that the NCCSALW, established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser, serves as the institutional framework for regulating and controlling Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria.
While sensitizing the Corps members on camp in Yobe state on the dangers of the proliferation of arms and weapons on the society, the Zonal Director said such weapons fuels banditry, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery, insurgency and other crimes.
“When you get to your places of primary assignment, be good ambassadors of your parents, NYSC, your state and yourself by reporting anyone in possession or involved in the fabrication of small arms and light weapons,” he urged.
According to him, Small Arms and Light Weapons hinders development, increases black marketers of arms and ammunition, causes undue exposure of young people to armed-violence, heightens transborder insecurity, creates fears in the minds of the people and many other vices in the society.
He called on all parents and guardians to take full responsibility of good child upbringing in all ramification, educate children on tolerance and peaceful co-existence and warn against violence.
He advised them to also observe and closely monitor behavioral changes for prompt correction.
Similarly, at the NYSC Orientation camp in Maiduguri on Tuesday, the Centre’s North-East boss called on scholars and clergymen to teach and sensitize their congregations on the dangers of proliferation of SALW, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
Represented by Stephen Inau Mshelia, Chief Programme Officer Intelligence, NCCSALW, North-East Zonal Centre, Adamu said “they should caution their congregation against the use of illicit SALW, facilitate reconciliation among extremists and victims for successful reintegration and surrendering”.
He also called on the Northeast Coordinators of NYSC to partner with the Centre to establish a Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) group in the states, similar to one already operational in Borno and Yobe states.
In their separate reactions, the NYSC Coordinators in Yobe and Borno states, Mr. Okochi Okpara and Mallam Nasir Bello, welcomed the proposal, assuring that efforts would be made to set up the CDS group to support the campaign.
They promised to work closely with the Centre in order to fight and eradicate the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons within the region by carrying out sensitization in strategic locations.
NCCSALW Official addressing the Corps members
Leave a Comment