The Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (retd) has assured of total support for the National Centre of the Control of Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) in the discharge of its tasks to halt illegal weapons in circulation.
General Magashi stated this when a 7 – man Management Team of the National Centre of the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, led by its Pioneer National Coordinator Major General Aba Muhammed Dikko (retd) paid him a courtesy visit at the Ministry of Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
In a signed statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister on Media and Publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadri , General Magashi tasked the leadership of the Centre to sanitise the National Security Landscape by checkmating illegal movements, manipulations and management of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country in compliance with its mandate and International conventions.
While appreciating President Muhammadu Buhari for the establishment of the Centre and for the well deserved appointment of General Dikko as the National Coordinator, the Minister also pledged the support of the Ministry to synergise efforts in stopping the enfrontery and the parity in Weapons handling between the State and Non- state actors.
The National Coordinator of the NCCSALW, major General Muhammed Dikko (retd) solicited for the support of the Minister towards stabilizing the operations of the new outfit.
General Dikko said the Centre is presently undergoing considerations by the National Assembly to transform it into a full fledged Commission.
He added that the NCCSALW is leveraging Multi – sectoral and Multi – stakeholders in implementing all National, UN and ECOWAS Plans of Action on the control of Small Arms and Light Weapons.
He further disclosed that plans to mainstream the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons into National discuss are on going, just as efforts to put in place streamlining mechanism for sharing of Weapons by security agencies as well as the establishment of a data base to checkmate proliferation and missing of SALW are in the pipeline of action.
The National Coordinator opined that these strategies are aimed at changing the narratives of impunity, and the audacity of the misusers of Weapons in the country.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari established the National Centre of the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons on May 3rd 2021 following the disbandment of the erstwhile Presidential Committee for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons.
