9 - The Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

256
Law and Security in Nigeria
workers. It undermines respect for international
humanitarian law. It threatens legitimate but
weak governments and it benefits terrorists as
well as the perpetrators of organised crime. 2
Since then, this genre of weapons has continued to attract
concerns not only from the international community, but also
from nation-States because of the multifaceted effect it has in
conflict and non-conflict situations. SALW result in high
death toll directly inflicted by their use; but more than this,
they have indirect and pernicious consequences of
humanitarian and socio-economic dimensions. 3 This has
underscored the imperative for legal measures to regulate
SALW in order to prevent, combat and eradicate their
proliferation.
From Nigeria’s perspective, the pernicious and
multidimensional effects of the proliferation and misuse of
SALW have also been felt through the prevalence of
organised armed violence and criminality, which have
become defining characteristics of the socio-political
landscape. 4 Literarily, Nigeria cannot be described as a
country at war; but it is predominantly militarised and is
2. Kofi Anan: We the People: the Role of the United Nations in the 21st
Century, (Geneva: United Nations, 2000), pp 52-53, at:
http://www.un.org/millennium/sg/report/full.htm (Anan, Millennium
Report). All websites cited were last visited between September 29 and
October, 2, 2010.
3. See Graduate Institute of International Studies, Small Arms Survey 2001:
Profiling the Problem, (Oxford University Press, 2001); Small Arms
Survey Year Book from 2001-2010,
http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/sas/publications/yearbooks.html;
Preamble to the UN Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, Adopted
at the UN 2001 Conference on the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All its Aspects and Trafficking (the UNPoA), A/CONF.192/15:
http://www.un-documents.net/paitsalw.htm.
4. Daily media reports are replete with accounts of armed violence, conflicts,
murder and other criminal acts involving the use of guns.