By Kingsley Omonobi
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has identified the disruption of illicit cross-border arms trafficking as critical to preventing electoral violence and securing Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
Disu stated this on Monday in Abuja while declaring open a five-day Small Arms and Light Weapons Identification and Tracing (SALW-IT) Simulation Programme involving security personnel from 12 African countries.
He said small arms and light weapons were among the major drivers of electoral violence, noting that illicitly acquired firearms were used to intimidate voters, harass political opponents, disrupt polling, and attack electoral personnel and materials.
According to him, such activities undermine public confidence in the democratic process and threaten the conduct of peaceful, free and fair elections.
“Many of these weapons enter the country through porous borders and trafficking routes that no single nation can close alone,” the IGP said.
He stressed that effective weapons identification and tracing would enable investigators to uncover trafficking networks, financiers and supply routes, thereby facilitating targeted action against those supplying arms to criminals and political thugs.
Disu said disrupting illicit arms supply chains ahead of the 2027 elections would help protect voters and electoral officials while strengthening the conditions necessary for a peaceful electoral process.
He noted that the proliferation of illicit weapons also fuelled terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and organised crime across Africa, making arms trafficking a major threat to regional peace and security.
The police chief called for stronger sub-regional and continental cooperation through timely intelligence sharing, coordinated investigations and mutual legal assistance to locate and apprehend suspects involved in cross-border crimes.
He emphasised that such cooperation must operate through established legal and institutional channels to prevent offenders from exploiting national borders to evade justice.
Disu said the engagement would provide a platform for police chiefs and security representatives from West and East African countries to deliberate on crime-related challenges and develop coordinated responses to transnational security threats.
He expressed optimism that the initiative would strengthen officers’ capacity to identify, trace and recover illicit weapons, generate actionable intelligence and support routine policing and election-security operations ahead of the 2027 polls.
The IGP commended the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPL), the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), INTERPOL, relevant African Union entities and experts from the German Armed Forces Verification Centre for supporting the programme.
He urged participants to share operational experiences, establish lasting professional relationships and apply the knowledge gained to improve security operations in their respective countries.
Disu reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to regional and continental arms-control initiatives, pledging sustained institutional support and operational cooperation to translate the training into improved public safety and a secure electoral environment in 2027.
The five-day programme, scheduled to run from October 12 to 16, 2026, brings together participants from Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Mali, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, Benin and the Republic of the Congo.
It is designed to strengthen participants’ capacity to identify, mark, register and trace small arms, light weapons and ammunition through technical instruction and practical simulations at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre.
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