A former Head of State, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, has attributed the spate of insecurity in the country to the proliferation of arms, saying about 6 million illegal arms are currently in circulation.
Abubakar, who is currently the Chairman of the National Peace Committee, raised the alarm on Wednesday at a dialogue session with key stakeholders in Abuja.
The meeting was attended by traditional rulers including the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III; The Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus, Abuja Catholic Diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan; Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi; Plateau State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Simon Lalong; religious leaders, the service chiefs, business mogul, Aliko Dangote, among others.
The retired General said the circulation of arms has worsened insecurity in the country and had led to the death of over 80,000 persons.
He said, “The proliferation of all calibre of weapons not only in our sub-region in general and in Nigeria, in particular, is worrying. It is estimated that there are over six million of such weapons in circulation in the country.
“This certainly exacerbated the insecurity that led to over 80,000 deaths and close to three million internally displaced persons.
“We believe Nigeria must find a way out of these problems. Our hope is that perhaps among us, by listening to your different perspectives, we can begin to build up confidence among our people so that we can hold together.
“So our hope is that we shall not only share our collective lamentations about the current situation, but propose some concrete suggestions that can point the way forward, suggestions that can inspire more confidence among our people and ensure that our country remains one.”
