The Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the Leadership Initiative For Transformation and Empowerment has kick-started the destruction of over 260 assorted arms and 5510 ammunition surrendered by repented Bakassi strike force fighters in 2018 as well as those recovered from criminals.
The event which took place at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar, Cross River state capital, Monday, was part of the implementation of the Nigerian component of the ECOWAS/EU small arms project, mainly a pilot weapons collection programme.
It is also an initiative of the ECOWAS Commission, funded by the European Union.
Speaking, Governor Ben Ayade, said kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal activities which bedeviled Cross River state in recent times was caused by armed conflicts in Cameroon as well as the collapse of Gadaffi regime in Libya.
He said: “With the collapse of the Gadaffi regime, young men/women with him in Libya started migrating downwards from North Africa. As this persisted, the choice/option of the use of weapons to secure a means of livelihood became imperative to them.
“Different religions/ethnic colourations of these young men who became radicalized and militarized took different forms, from Boko Haram to bandits to kidnappers and armed robbery.This became accelerated with increased levels of poverty and a lot of them migrated to the riverine areas.
“Cross River became a prime target and this became accelerated with the Ambazonia conflict. The 33 illegal routes into the state became a veritable source for the harvest of arms.”
In his remarks, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Dr. Dickson Orji, said, “Today, we want to flag off the destruction of over 260 arms and 5510 ammunition as part of the Federal Government disarmament initiative.”
Orji lauded governor Ayade for spearheading the civilian disarmament initiative.
Speaking earlier, the state Commissioner of Police, Sikiru Akande, said some of the weapons were stolen from police armoury and pleaded with the governor to allow the police retrieve the weapons.
It was gathered that 150 repentant militants invited to the event would benefit from the alternative livelihood.
The governor symbolically destroyed a pistol to kickstart the programme.
