President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday noted the closure of land borders in Nigeria did not stop the free flow of arms and ammunitions.
Buhari stated this while receiving the outgoing Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohammed Ibn Chambas.
The President in his statement noted that the stability of Libya will stop the flow of illegal arms and ammunition in the Sahel region of Africa.
According to Buhari, Muammar Gadaffi held to power in Libya for 42 years by recruiting armed guards from different countries, who then escaped with their arms when the Libyan strongman was killed.
“They didn’t learn any other skill than to shoot and kill. So, they are a problem all over the Sahel countries today.”
“We closed our land borders here for more than a year, but arms and ammunition continued to flow illegally. As far as Libya remains unstable, so will the problem remain.”
“We have to cope with the problems of development, as we can’t play hop, step and jump. But we will eventually overcome those problems.”
Buhari in a statement released through his spokesman, Femi Adesina, described Chambas, who spent many years in Nigeria in different capacities, from ECOWAS to UN, as “more of a Nigerian than anything else.”
He wished him well in his future endeavours.
The outgoing Special Representative thanked the President “for personal support” and “from Nigeria as a country”, adding that the country would continue to play a leadership role on the continent.
Chambas, while speaking on terrorism and violent extremism in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin area, said Nigeria is playing a yeoman’s role, particularly in giving support to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
Meanwhile, an officer of the Nigerian Army has alleged that troops engaged in the war against the deadly Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents are using old weapons to fight the terrorist group.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, the soldier said the weapons used against the terrorists were those recovered from the Biafra Army after the civil war ended in 1970.
