The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has agreed to partner the National Commission for the Coordination and Control of the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, NATCOM, to curb the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Anambra State.
The NSCDC Commandant in Anambra, Olatunde Maku, disclosed this when he received Dr Ebere Anozie, the NATCOM Commandant in the state, who paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday in Awka.
According to him, illegal arms were contributing to the upsurge of criminal activities in the country and must be tackled squarely.
He said that the NSCDC is willing to partner with NATCOM to prevent the circulation of illegal arms in order to have a safe environment to engender peace in the country.
“Security is everyone’s business and we are going to work with you to mop up all the illegal arms in the hands of wrong persons.
“The recent upsurge in criminal activities could be traced to illegal weapons circulating among those who are not supposed to be in possession of them.
“I know that even within the system, we may have infiltrators who do not have the same vision with set objectives, but the job must be done,” Maku said.
Earlier, the NATCOM commandant said the commission has the mandate to stop illegal arms, ammunition and chemical weapons from coming into the country.
He said they operate in line with the Economic Community of West African States’ treaty which Nigeria was a signatory to since 2006.
“NATCOM would like to leverage on NSCDC’s expertise as a critical stakeholder in internal security to tackle the problem.
“We want NSCDC to assist the commission in preventing and combating the proliferation of small arms, light weapons and related materials in the country,” Anozie said.