ARMS TRAFFICKING IN NIGERIA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR PEACE AND SECURITY IN THE WEST AFRICA SUB-REGION SINCE 1900
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Date
2015
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Ijagun Journal of History and Diplomacy
Abstract
The movement of arms across the world, the threat to security, stability and development, the existence of militant groups, organized criminal gangs and the nexus between them are not new phenomena. It was however not until a few years after the 9/11 Attack in the United States that the question of susceptibility of Nigeria and the West African sub-region began to take the center stage in policy and academic debates. This article examines the implications of trans-border arms trafficking on the socioeconomic development of Nigeria as a country, and the West African sub-region. It argues that trans-border arms trafficking is growing in scale and momentum without a corresponding and clearly coordinated strategy for dealing with this hydra-headed monster, which significantly affects the economy of Nigeria in particular and West African sub-region in general. This growing trend, if uncontrolled, has the potential of undermining and fueling insecurity across the region, which consequently has the likelihood of affecting the joint security, stability, economies and core democratic
values of the region. The paper concludes that the extent and magnitude of the problem require a definitive strategy within the broad-frame of the sub-region.
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Keywords
Peace, Security, Nigeria, Arms, Trafficking, West-African Sub-region