According to Saturday Punch:
A Belgium-based advocacy organisation,
the International Crisis Group, has raised the alarm over large amount
of arms being smuggled into Nigeria as the next general elections draw
near.
In its report titled: “Nigeria’s
dangerous 2015 elections: Limiting the violence” which was released on
November 21, 2014, the group said the likelihood of a political violence
was growing with “the continuing influx and wide-scale availability of
firearms, ranging from pistols to assault rifles.”
The ICG based its assertions on
interviews it conducted between May and June 2014 with a member of the
Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Mr. Dickson
Orji; officers of the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerian
Security and Civil Defence Corps; and heads of private security
companies in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.
The group said, “The Nigeria Customs
Service reports that it seized seven times more arms and ammunition in
2013 than it did in 2012 and that in the first half of 2014, it recorded
seizures almost daily.
“On January 1, 2014, Rivers State
Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, observed that the number of arms
entering Nigeria these days is unmatched at any time in history. You
will be shocked at the rate politicians are stockpiling arms.
“Security source and local media concur that the surge of arms is linked to preparations for the general elections.”
The ICG expressed fear that the firearms
could prove to be lethal weapons for electoral violence in the light of
the bitter rivalry currently existing between political parties in the
country.
“With mounting tension between the
Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, particularly
in Rivers State, some local politicians are returning to the old
practice of arming their supporters to protect them and intimidate their
opponents.”
It stated that election violence could
be aggravated by increasing cases of communal clashes, noting that
crimes in the Niger Delta, especially Bayelsa State, were sources of
concern.
ICG said, “Between January and July
2014, there were over 21 incidents of communal violence in Kaduna,
Katsina, Plateau, Zamfara, Taraba, Nasarawa and Benue states, with at
least 900 people killed.
“Most of the conflicts resulted from
rivalries between gunmen suspected to be nomadic Fulani herdsmen and
residents of agrarian communities.
“In the Niger Delta, insecurity also
poses threats to the elections. Armed violence related to political
activities is on the rise.
“Kidnapping, which ebbed a few years
ago, has surged, increasingly targeting government officials,
high-profile politicians and their relatives.”
Identifying areas where violence could
potentially break out after the 2015 election, the ICG named Rivers
State in the Niger Delta, Kaduna and Kano in the North-Central as the
states to watch.
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