Weapons looted from Libyan armories Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
Libya a country in Northern Africa has been in the news for the past six years and plagued by violence arising from the fallout of the Arab spring that lead to the removal and subsequent death of muammer gaddafi the country’s former leader, Although issues that lead to his ouster as well as the role played by foreign countries and the Nation Transition Council are not issues to be debated now.
While Nigeria a power house in Sub Saharan West Africa currently practicing a democratic system of government after decades of military dictatorship has been plagued by nagging cases of insecurity , violent agitation by rebels in the Niger Delta ,Kidnapping for ran some ,Armed robbery, Cattle rustling , Killer herdsmen and terrorist attacks by Boko haram all resulting to the unwanted killings and destruction of properties all carried out through the use of illegal arms ,which they seem to have an unending supply of ,According to Daily Trust in the last ten years ,the number of deaths as a result of violence in different parts of the country has risen .The fifth report of the Nigerian Watch Project released early this year indicates that between June 2006 and December 2015 , a total of 94,470 deaths were recorded from fatal violence across the country .The country attained the climax in terms of the number of deaths recorded from violence in the last ten years in 2014 and 2015 , accounting for the 24 percent and 18 percent respectively of total death recorded during the period.
The United Nations of recent raised an alarm over the illicit proliferation of Small And Light Weapons ( SALW) in Nigeria with over 350 million or 70 percent of an estimated 500 million of such weapons said to be circulating in West Africa to be in Nigeria .small arms and light weapons are a huge threat to national security since insecurity has been largely tied to the proliferation of firearms, however many of these weapons proliferated of recent have been traced to being of Libyan origin .Recent events from the fallout of the Arab spring has been linked to the raising cases of insecurity across West Africa and Nigeria . Note! This is not an attempt to apportion blames or accuse any nation of external influence in the case of insecurity currently experienced by Nigeria.
The only notable diplomatic exchange between Nigeria and Libya was in 2010 when Abuja recalled its ambassador Isa Aliyu mohammed to Libya in response to a suggestion by the Libyan leader ,Muammer Ghaddaafi , that Nigeria should separate into a Muslim northern state and a Christian southern state .The Nigerian national assembly requested that the federal government ask the United Nations to prohibit Gaddafi from calling for the division of Nigeria .The legislators also passed a motion urging the government to order an African Union investigation into whether Libya was attempting to destabilize the country. Notable Niger delta militant leader Asari Dokubo has openly claimed ties with Gaddafi and was said to have received military training in Libya. Late ghaddafi has been accused in the past of using Libya’s oil wealth to fund and arm rebel groups across Africa .Islamic terrorist book haram has ties with al Qeada and also had some of its hard line fighters trained in foreign countries including Libya. The recent upraising which eventually lead to the ouster and death of muammer ghaddafi firmly lit the fuse to spark off violence in the region as several armories containing arms and ammunitions belonging to the Libyan armed forces were looted. These weapons including light and heavy weapons have found their way to countries across sub Saharan Africa to armed groups such as book haram ,cattle rustlers and armed robbers .Evidence was brought forth by
http://www.armamentresearch.com in an article which showed an AK-103 rifle seized from cattle rustlers during an operation by the Nigerian Army in Dansadau northwestern state of Zamfara .the likely proximate source of such rifle was Libya with these rifles largely proliferated to countries such as Chad , Algeria , Egypt ,Mali and Nigeria . According to
http://www.armamentresearch .com ,none of these states are known importers of the Ak-103 .Heavy machine guns such as 12.7mm DSHK , 14.7mm and 23mm anti aircraft guns devastate used by boko haram are alleged have been sourced from Libya.
There are also fears Man Portable Surface to Air Missile (MANPAD) COULD HAVE FALLEN INTO THE hands of terrorist groups as Ghaddafi was believed to have stocked up a huge number of them. Chadian authorities also made a seizure of nineteen surface to air missile on their way to be delivered to boko haram. These fears were finally confirmed last week when supposedly killed leader Abubakar shekau appeared in a video flanked by two men carrying manpads which looked like SA-7 shoulder launchers, potent enough to shoot down civilian and military aircrafts.
Shekau flanked by two men carrying SA-7 Manpads
This grave situation has not gone unnoticed by authorities with President Muhammadu Buhari blaming recent brutal attacks by killer herdsmen to individuals from Libya. A Nigerien official had also warned that the conflict in Libya had created very complicating situations since arms depots were opened and people from all quarters helped themselves. This describes a gory situation of the state of things best imagined.
These situations must be tackled vigorously by those responsible for manning our nation’s security, they must be mandated to sit up fashion out effective strategies in place to counter the proliferation of arms and ammunition, and borders should also be adequately policed with dedicated 24 hour surveillance in place. The African Union should immediately mediate into the ugly situation occurring in Libya .As for the giant of Africa, partnership must be forged with our neighbors and if the need be covertly liquidate these threats.
