The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai has reiterated that removal of small arms and light weapons from the hands of the terrorists and non- state actors in the entire Northeast will deepen and sustain the peace and tranquility achieved so far.
To this end, the Shehu commended the federal government for the laudable initiative of creating the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) and siting the North East Zonal Office in Maiduguri as a panacea for mitigating the menace of proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the state and the country at large.
He spoke yesterday when the coordinator Northeast Zone of the NCCSALW, S.A. Mohammed (rtd) with his management team and officers of the zonal centre visited the palace of the Shehu of Borno, in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
“The removal of SALW from the hands of terrorists and non-state actors in the entire North East will deepen and sustain the peace and tranquility achieved so far,” the Monarch said.
He promised the Emirate’s unalloyed support in its task while emphasising that apart from being the chairman of Borno State Traditional Council, his Emirate spans across 16 local government areas out of the twenty-seven (27) local government areas (LGAs) in the state, 59 district heads, five hundred and ninety-one (591) village heads and over 7,000 ward heads under his Emirate, adding that they will all render their support in areas of advocacy/ recovery of illicit SALW from the society.
He lamented that bad roads, lack of electricity and effective communication system has strongly contributed to challenge of quick response to distress call by security agents.
He also asked the Coordinator of the Zonal Centre and his team not to be deterred in the task ahead sighting the fact that the North East shares international borders with three (3) countries that have experienced a lot of armed conflicts in recent years which has contributed to the smuggling of SALWs in the Zone.
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Earlier, the zonal coordinator of the North-East Zonal Centre of the NCCSALW, Rear Admiral Shuwa Abdulrahim Mohammed (rtd) who visited with his management team and officers of the Zonal Centre to the Palace of the Shehu of Borno, said they were there to pay respects and homage to the revered traditional ruler and to receive his royal blessings as a stakeholder, as the Centre embarks on national assignment of eradicating Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the Zone from the hands of non-state actors and terrorists.
The zonal coordinator also highlighted the importance of traditional institutions as a critical stakeholder in public awareness in the framework of promotion of the culture of peace and non-violence which is one of the core functions of the National Centre. He also informed the monarch that the zonal centre will be interacting with the traditional institution in the area of advocacy periodically.
The zonal coordinator appreciated the support rendered by the royal father and his emirate which has led to successes recorded in the operations against terrorists and solicited for the same support for the zonal centre in the state and the North East in general.
In his remarks, the district head of Damboa, Alhaji Zanna Lawan, expressed happiness about the timely creation of the national and zonal centres.
He requested that the zonal centre actively partner and collaborate with traditional institutions in achieving the desired aim of retrieving illicit SALW from the non-state actors and terrorists.
He further opined that the centre can only achieve a wider advocacy at the rural areas by this sort of partnership with the traditional institutions in the North East.
