VIOLENCE: "Nigeria Has More Arms Than Food"

The House of Representatives yesterday in Abuja raised an alarm on the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country, saying that Nigeria now has more weapons than food.
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* A cross section of members of Nigeria Federal House of Reps

The chairman, House of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nnenna Ukaeje, made this comment while speaking with the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) led by its chairman, Ambassador Emmanuel Imohe.

Imohe had paid her a courtesy visit primarily to seek partnership with the House Committee on the need to accelerate the passage of a draft Bill before the House which seeks to transform the committee into a commission.

Speaking on the Bill, Ukeje said that her sponsorship of it was borne out of the desire to ensure that an effective structure exists in Nigeria for tackling the problems posed by the proliferation of illegal Small Arms and Light Weapons, as mandated by the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, which advocates a commission instead of committee.

The parliamentarian expressed deep concern that the presence of these small arms and light weapons in wrong hands portends a danger to the coming general election and called on the authorities to arrest the situation.