The Senate in a critical bill considers seeking to tackle the illicit importation and trade of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Commission against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons bill which scaled second reading on the floor during plenary was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi.
The lawmaker says that when passed into law, the bill will put in place machinery to combat illegal importation of arms and enhance harmonization of intelligence and information collection, analysis and dissemination among the Intelligence organs and law enforcement agencies.
He recalled that the National Consultation on Physical Security and Stockpile Management PSSM organized in 2019 in Abuja by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa and the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons revealed that Nigeria hosts 350 million or 70 percent of the 500 million illegal arms in West Africa.
This he said has fueled violent conflicts in the country.
The bill after consideration was referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Senate Committee on Defence for further legislative work.
