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One of General Andrew Owoye Azazi’s first actions, following his
recent appointment as National Security Advisor, was to put Nigeria’s
intelligence network on notice that he wanted serious intelligence on any
threats to Nigeria’s national security. The results were not long in coming
forth.

Barely three weeks after General Azazi’s appointment, Nigeria’s
security services intercepted 13 shipping containers at Apapa Wharf, Lagos,
containing a range of illegal weapons including rocket launchers, grenades,
mortar bombs, and other light weapons as well as ammunition.

The shipment is believed to have been loaded in Iran, stopping
at Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru port, before continuing to Lagos, where Nigeria’s
State Security Service (SSS) intercepted it. The size of the shipment is a
wake-up call that significant shipments of illegal arms are continuing to make
their way into Nigeria and be distributed through networks of illegal arms
dealers throughout the country.

The latest shipment of illegal arms highlights the huge number
of illegal weapons already in circulation in Nigeria. In the recent amnesty,
there was absolutely no accountability for the 2,760 arms surrendered across
Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo, and Rivers States, and the
chain of custody of weapons surrendered had no integrity. In keeping with
previous surrenders, the weapons were recycled through the loop to inflate the
number surrendered. The IGP was accused of supplying some weapons to make up
the numbers for weapons displayed to the media.

In the weapons surrender attached to the amnesty process, the
military provided no details of serial numbers of weapons surrendered and there
was no independent check or destruction to UN standards. The tally of 2,760
arms surrendered is ridiculously small for 20,000 militia. The weapons
surrender, which attended the amnesty process, must be suspect. These
government figures are simply devoid of any credibility. Where are all the
weapons that were surrendered?

The fact is that in the amnesty process the militia surrendered
a small fraction of their weapons and the vast bulk of illegal weapons
including mortars, TNT, assault rifles, hand grenades and grenade launchers
remain in civilian hands. The military must account for the weapons that were
surrendered.

One shipment of illegal weapons to Nigeria in mid 2007 contained
60 times more ammunition than that surrendered in the recent amnesty.

It also contained 950 automatic assault rifles and 1,475,000
rounds of ammunition, 300 grenade launchers, 8,000 hand grenades, 700 pistols,
and 300,000 rounds of ammunition, 500 kg of TNT, mortars, portable military
radio sets, and more. This illegal cargo was transported by ship through the
port of Odessa in Ukraine, then to Dubai, from where it was shipped by air to
West Africa, before being transferred to a vessel for the final leg of its
journey to Nigeria. The shipment made it to Nigeria and was off loaded at Lagos
in the same manner as the shipment discovered last week and was distributed through
the network of illegal arms dealers.

As this column stated in ‘Arms, Arms, and Arms‘ (NEXT Nigeria 11
October 2009), “…. recovery of illegal arms by the Nigerian military and
police is exceedingly small and this is a cause for concern when one considers
the ease with which militants and criminals use road transport to distribute
weapons from Lagos Harbour to the Niger Delta”.

Although we must await the details of the shipment of arms
discovered by the SSS in Lagos last week, it is a safe guess that it will
rival, if not dwarf, the total of all weapons surrendered in the amnesty.

In this latest seizure of illegal arms, the new NSA moved
quickly to ensure a co-ordinated effort between all Nigeria’s security
services. A co-operative effort between the Chief of Defence Staff, Inspector
General of Police, Director General of the State Security Service and service
chiefs is a welcome development.

General Azazi has lifted the performance of Nigeria’s security
services in the last few weeks and we would all hope that the security services
are about to be overhauled to produce a significantly better performance than
Nigeria has been given in recent years. Thus far, its full marks to the new
NSA.

In his recent public statement, President Jonathan is correct in
emphasising the need to simultaneously upgrade Nigeria’s security effort while
alleviating poverty, building infrastructure, and building sustainable economic
development opportunities. In addressing the latter, President Jonathan will
strip away the basis for unrest but this will not occur overnight. It will be a
long haul that will require the continued support of the Presidency. Meanwhile,
General Azazi must continue to shake up the security services and pursue the
reform mandate President Jonathan has given the NSA following the Independence
Day bombings.

But we should not forget about the vast hordes of illegal arms
that already exist in Nigeria. There are sufficient weapons in civilian hands
to cause a considerable amount of conflict in Nigeria and certainly to disrupt
the 2011 elections. The task of identifying and securing these weapons is every
bit as important as intercepting cargoes of illegal weapons entering Nigeria.

Canon Dr. Stephen Davis is Canon Emeritus at Coventry Cathedral
and has served as an advisor to President Obasanjo, Presidential Envoy under
President Yar’Adua, and is the author of The Report on the Potential for Peace
and Reconciliation in the Niger Delta.