The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), in collaboration with the Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (SALWCDS) and the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), has launched an awareness campaign addressing the proliferation of small arms at the Abujan Mai Mala internally displaced persons (IDP) camp and the Mohammad Gombe farming community.
Campaign Objectives
The joint ceremonial event focuses on curbing small arms proliferation, promoting hygiene, and providing food support to IDPs and other vulnerable populations across the six states of the Northeast region.
Maj-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (rtd), the North East Director of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), represented by his Assistant on Strategic Communication and Information (SCOI), urged thousands of IDPs living in communities to maintain love, peace, and unity for the nation, despite the harms they have sustained in the conflict.
Theme and Objectives
The non-proliferation campaign, themed "Promoting Health and Peace in Our Communities," aims to effectively tackle the lingering issues of unlawful weaponry, thereby achieving a safer and protected Nigeria.
Bulus Seth Kazachat, Team Leader of SALWCDS, explained that the group's objectives are to educate displaced communities on the dangers of small arms, promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence, and provide essential resources to IDPs in the Northeast region.
He stated, "Our expectation is that after sensitizing them on the risks, they are to report any suspicious activity. If they see anyone wielding unlawful weapons, they should notify the military and other security agencies in their respective communities for prompt action."
Call for Assistance
Kazachat added, "We are also striving to improve their situation, but we cannot do it alone with state aid. Thankfully, SEMA in Yobe is also supporting our efforts, but we are appealing to the authorities for more assistance."
Beyond the fight against small arms proliferation, Kazachat emphasized: "Our aim is to assess how we, alongside other security personnel, can stop the illegal influx of weapons into Nigeria. The harmful guns and light arms have inflicted evident damage in most conflict-affected communities in Borno, Adamawa, Gombe, and Yobe states."
