An Assessment of Government Policies in Curbing Arms Proliferation in Nigeria, 1999-2022

The proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria has been a major security concern over the last few decades. The availability and misuse of these weapons has contributed to increased violence and insecurity, especially in the northern, southeastern and Niger Delta parts of the country. The Nigerian government has taken several measures to address the problem, including initiatives to strengthen the legal framework, improve the regulation of arms transfers, amnesty programs and increase public awareness of the issue. Despite the adoption of several strategies, the country is still facing the menace of arms proliferation, which has resulted in a series of security challenges, especially in the northeast, middle belt and other flash points of Nigeria. To this end, this study was undertaken to assess government policies on arms proliferation in Nigeria. The theoretical framework underpinning the menace of arms proliferation and its concomitant insecurity challenges is stability””security theory. The study adopted a qualitative design, and the secondary data collected were thoroughly subjected to content analysis. The study revealed that the government has adopted several policies to curb the proliferation of arms in Nigeria, including NCSALW and the Firearms Act of 2018. Amnesty program, cash for arms surrender and the use of armed forces to support the police for mop up of arms. Despite these strategies, there are some challenges, such as a lack of adequate resources and capacity to monitor the proliferation of arms, vast territory, a large population and high level of unemployment and its consequences of high level of criminality which make it difficult to effectively track the movements of arms and their sources of supply. To address the issue of arms proliferation in Nigeria, the government should focus on creating a secure environment by providing stability and security for its citizens. This can be done by tackling corruption, creating employment, increasing economic equality, justice, addressing age long issues of marginalization and adequate funding for police and other security services. AYAH David Bonny Preye | ANYALEBECHI, Shammah Mahakwe | HART, Akie Opuene | PETER, Peter Finebone "An Assessment of Government Policies in Curbing Arms Proliferation in Nigeria, 1999-2022" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-3 , June 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/papers/ijtsrd57524.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/other-scientific-research-area/other/57524/an-assessment-of-government-policies-in-curbing-arms-proliferation-in-nigeria-1999-2022/ayah-david-bonny-preye