WAANSA Seeks Collaboration With CAN To Check Illegal Proliferation Of Small Arms

By Uche Onyeali 

West African Action Network On Small Arms, WAANSA, has called for a collaboration with the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, to check illegal proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

Regional 1st Vice President of WAANSA, Mr. Martin Igwe made the call when he led a delegation of the network on a courtesy visit to the CAN president, Archbishop Daniel Ok oh, in his office in Abuja on Thursday.

According to Igwe, Nigeria and the entire West Africa sub-region have had their fair share of violent crises which have claimed millions of lives due to the proliferation of small arms in the region.

He noted that to checkmate such trend, the root-causes had to be addressed.

Igwe noted that having observed that people, especially the youths, go into arms struggle as a result of joblessness and poverty, WAANSA took took upon itself to engage women and youths in skills acquisition programmes in order to get them busy and self-reliant.

He appealed to the CAN president to assist the network, especially in the area of connection with other well-meaning individuals to get the youths and women engaged, so as to reduce the rate of arms getting into the hands of the wrong people.

In response, Archbishop Okoh expressed delight on the activities of WAANSA, as he decried the rate of spread of violent crises in Nigeria and the entire West Africa.

Okoh, who decried a situation where very young men in Nigeria now brandish dangerous weapons to threaten the peace in communities, pledged to assist WAANSA in its activities where necessary to check the ugly trend.

Meanwhile, WAANSA has expressed concern over the escalation of attacks by armed groups in Nigeria.

The network in a solidarity letter to President Bola Tinubu, however commended the effort of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, to partner civil society organisations to address the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the region.

The letter signed by the president of WAANSA, Victorien Aka N'Taye, expressed the network's solidarity with President Tinubu and and people of Nigeria in this challenging period.

It condemned the repeated kidnappings in parts of the country, especially the abduction of 287 pupils of Keriga LEA Primary School and secondary school in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The group further thank the president for listening to the cries of Nigeria s by reopening the country's borders to ease the economic suffering of the citizens.