The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, says the Nigerian Army will partner the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms Proliferation (NCCSALW) to tackle arms proliferation and insecurity in the country.

Yahaya said this when the National Coordinator of NCCSALW, Maj.-Gen. Abba Dikko, paid him a courtesy visit at Army Headquarters on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said proliferation of small arms was responsible for all security challenges currently confronting the nation and the Sahel region.

The COAS reassured the centre that the army was ready to support the committee, adding the collaboration would defeat insurgency and other security challenges.

“The proliferation of small arms is one of the major causes of insecurity in most parts of Sahel countries as weapons used in Libya and Mali entered the hands of criminals who used it to perpetuate all kinds of atrocities against the state,” he said.

Yahaya also congratulated Dikko on his appointment, which he attributed to his loyalty, competence and dedication.

Earlier, the National Coordinator described small arms proliferation as the catalyst that propelled insurgency and instability in any society.

He added that the visit was premised on the fact that Nigerian army was a critical stakeholder and vanguard in the ongoing fight against insecurity.

According to him, the Nigerian society is awash with all types of weapons in the hands of unauthorised persons, which endangers the peaceful existence of the nation.

Dikko said the committee had two major objectives that bothered on institutionalisation of small arms regulatory body and centrally controlling the movement of small arms.

He added that all recovered arms based on this objective would be pooled for either destruction or re-issue to various security outfits.

Another objective, according to him, is the capacity building to produce light weapons that will aid the war against criminalities.