Nigeria Weapons Small Weapons Trafficking

Nigeria Weapons Small Weapons Trafficking in Nigeria Nigeria's relatively recent exploitation of its oil deposits has brought the nation increasing wealth over the past decade, but rather than having fully beneficial effects on Nigerian society the new found wealth has led to increasing fractures in the Nigerian power structure as various militant groups and governments vie for control of the oil deposits and other resources.

Such chaos has led to a massive rise in many illicit activities in the area, among them the illicit smuggling and trade of small artillery and weapons. These are used by various groups and factions within Nigeria both in the various violent actions in which they engage and as means for raising additional funds through smuggling and reselling these weapons.

The specifics of the illicit weapons situation in Nigeria insofar as they are known, the Nigerian response to this already large and growing problem including past diplomatic solutions and proposals, as well as suggestions for hot to combat the problem in the future will be addressed in this paper.

As of 2007, it was estimated that approximately seven million pieces of light weaponry -- revolvers, light machine guns, rifles, carbines, landmines, hand-grenades, and other weapons meant for use by one person -- were traded illicitly in West Africa on an annual basis, and Nigeria has had an increasing share in this trade (Thachuk 2007). Wealth produced by increased findings of oil deposits and their exploitation has led to an increased ability to purchase weapons, as well as providing an incentive for doing so.

Various militant groups, each with their own unique and often conflicting demands, have taken control of certain areas of the country, and other groups more on the periphery continue to buck for prominence and control. The overall effect of the weapons trade on Nigeria has been to create a state of near lawlessness, or at least of non-governmental martial rule, in many of the rural areas of the country.

The names and nature of many of the militant groups in Nigeria changes on an almost daily basis, as various groups splinter and/or subsume each other. Some of the more prominent and permanent (or at least long-lasting) of the militant groups in Nigeria, however, include the Ijaw Youth Council and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). Little information as to the leadership and workings of these groups is known, making it more difficult to combat them directly (BBC News 2006).

This is one of the reasons that understanding and combating the illicit trafficking and trade of small arms/light weapons has become such an important issue for the Nigerian government and other interests in the region; as it is almost impossible to beat the militant groups at their own game and on their own turf, removing the mechanisms by which they are able to continue their violent actions is essential.

So far, efforts to stop the weapons trade have been largely ineffective due to the apparent legitimacy of many of the companies and individuals involved. Few if any of the militant groups in Nigeria using the weapons have the means to obtain these weapons directly; instead, they are typically purchased by otherwise legitimate Nigerian businessmen from illicit manufacturers and distributors and traded for oil "bunkered" (stolen) by the groups themselves (Keili 2008).

Nigeria and other countries in the region placed bans on the importing, exporting, or manufacturing of most small arms and weapons within their borders as far back as 1998, but Nigeria is known to have especially porous borders on both land and sea, and lax export controls in many weapons supplier countries have exacerbated the problems caused by Nigeria's sudden wealth but lack of security and infrastructure still further. The issue is made still more complex by the political situation within Nigeria.

Groups like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta claim that their country -- or their specific region -- is being exploited for outside interests and that typical Nigerians are nw worse off than they were before the discovery of oil and the arrival of foreign companies and domestic big-wigs (BBC News 2006).

There is a large amount of truth to this statement, and though it does not exonerate the small arms dealers or the militant groups who use these weapons, it does raise serious questions as to the motives behind Nigerian officials and diplomats please for help in putting down the militants. The fact of the matter is that the arms trade exists due to the severe unrest among the general populous of Nigeria; though those who have chosen and advocated militancy as a response are in the minority, many Nigerians.