The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, has described illicit arms proliferation as a major threat to peace and security across Africa, fuelling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and organised crime.
Disu notes that effective weapons tracing helps investigators uncover trafficking networks, financiers and supply routes, enabling targeted action against illicit arms trafficking.
He said this while declaring open the Small Arms and Light Weapons Identification and Tracing, SALW-IT, Simulation Programme in Abuja.
The IGP highlighted the programme’s relevance to preparations for Nigeria’s upcoming elections.
He noted that disrupting illicit arms supply would help prevent electoral violence and intimidation, protect voters and electoral personnel, and support the security conditions necessary for peaceful, free and fair elections.
To extend the benefits to frontline policing, the knowledge and skills acquired will be cascaded through structured training and knowledge-sharing across Police commands and formations.
This will strengthen officers’ ability to identify, trace and recover weapons, develop actionable intelligence and support routine policing and election-security operations.
The IGP called for closer sub-regional and continental cooperation through timely intelligence sharing, coordinated investigations and mutual assistance in locating and lawfully apprehending suspects involved in transborder crimes.
He stressed that cooperation through established legal and institutional channels is essential to preventing offenders from exploiting national borders to evade justice.
He further stated that all Inspectors-General of Police from West and East African countries would come together to deliberate on crime-related issues and develop modalities for addressing transborder crime.
These deliberations would support the broader drive for coordinated responses to shared security threats.
The IGP commended the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL), the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), INTERPOL, relevant African Union entities and experts from the German Armed Forces Verification Centre for their support.
He urged participants to share operational experiences, build lasting professional relationships and apply the knowledge gained in their respective countries.
The Inspector-General of Police, reaffirmed the Force’s commitment to regional and continental arms-control efforts and pledged sustained institutional support and operational cooperation to translate the training into improved public safety and election security.
The five-day programme, is designed to strengthen participants’ capacity to identify, mark, register and trace small arms, light weapons and ammunition.
Participants are drawn from Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Mali, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, Benin and the Republic of the Congo.
The training combines technical instruction with practical exercises, including simulations at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre.
