President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed that the closure of Nigeria’s land borders for over a year failed to stop the influx of illegal arms.
Explaining the reason for this development, Buhari stated that as long as there is instability in Libya, illegal arms and ammunition will continue to flow into the Sahel region of the African continent.
The Sahel region includes parts of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia.
This remark was contained in a statement by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman quoting Buhari, who spoke on Thursday at the state house, Abuja, when he received Mohammed Ibn Chambas, outgoing special representative of the United Nations secretary-general.
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Buhari was quoted as saying Muammar Gadaffi, ex-Libyan president, held a grip on power in Libya 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.”
