The Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Bill, 2021, an executive bill was introduced in the National Assembly upon resumption from its long recess on Tuesday, September 14. The bill seeks to establish a National Centre for the Control of the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria, to do the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The National Centre\nfor the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons is to be domiciled in the\nOffice of the National Security Adviser, which shall co-ordinate all security\nand enforcement agencies mentioned in the bill (including the police and the\narmed forces), for the purpose of enforcing its provisions. Among several\nfunctions, the National Centre will be responsible for implementing strategies,\nplans and policies for the eradication of small arms and light weapons, as well\nas supervise the implementation of same by relevant government bodies. It will\nalso create and maintain a small arms and light weapons register and a national\ndatabase; receive reports on firearms registration from the Nigeria Police and\nupdate the database with such information. It will also register, store and\ndestroy firearms and ammunition received from security agencies, criminals and\nany person in illegal possession of such items. In addition, it will maintain a\ndatabase of registered firearms dealers in Nigeria. Furthermore, the Centre\nwill be responsible for updating and transmitting the national database to the\nUnited Nations (UN), the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West\nAfrican States (ECOWAS). In its relations with these inter-governmental bodies,\nthe National Centre will identify legitimate national defence and security\nneeds and obtain the required exemptions from certain international protocols, in\norder to meet these needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Centre is further empowered to carry out public education and awareness at national, state and local levels, to involve Nigerians in the efforts to control the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. It may also make regulations and guidelines necessary for the implementation of the bill\u2019s provisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The register of small\narms and light weapons to be maintained by the National Centre is expected to\nrecord information such as the type, model, caliber and quality of the product\n(small arms and light weapons), content of their markings, names and addresses\nof previous and current owners of the arms\/weapons and where possible,\nsuccessive owners. Other details to be included are the date of registration\nand other information from each transaction involving a particular product. The\nrecords of the register shall also be kept in the custody of designated\nagencies. The National Centre shall also establish a National Small Arms\nRegistry to be managed by an Arms Registrar, who will maintain and update all\nregisters established under the bill. These registers shall also be transmitted\nto the secretariat of ECOWAS in accordance with its Convention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the possession of\npersonal firearms, the bill provides that an individual can hold same only in\naccordance with a licence granted by the Inspector General of Police, under the\nguidelines specified by the President on the advice of the National Centre. A\nperson whose application for a licence has been refused by the police and not\nby the President\u2019s decision, may appeal to the President in writing through the\nNational Centre and any decision stemming from the appeal shall be final. However,\na permit or licence to hold firearms will not be granted to any individual who\nis under the age of 21, of unsound mind, unfit to possess a firearm due to\ndefective eyesight, a person of intemperate habits or who has previously been\nconvicted of an offence involving violence or threat of violence. The Inspector\nGeneral of Police will be responsible to provide the National Centre with\ndetails of rejected licence applications, as well as revoked licences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill stipulates the procedures for authorised sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition, as well as the manufacture of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria. The bill further creates offences associated with possession of firearms or ammunition without a licence and acts of violence with firearms, and stipulates penalties ranging from 2 years to 6 years imprisonment and a minimum fine option of N1,000,000. For offences under the Act for which no penalty is prescribed, the bill stipulates an imprisonment term of not less than one year and a fine of not less than N500,000 or both. The bill, if passed into law, will dissolve the Presidential Committee for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons. It will be recalled that bills seeking to establish a National Commission for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons have been introduced severally in the National Assembly, dating back to the 7th Assembly. This has been with the aim to domesticate the provisions of the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, signed by Nigeria in 2006. However, even the most recent bill on the subject before the National Assembly raises administrative issues and questions of the independence of the National Centre it seeks to create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n