A Bill to curtail the proliferation of illegal arms in the country has passed second reading in the Senate.
This followed the presentation of the debate on the general principles of the Bill titled”A Bill for an Act to among other provisions increase the imposition of fines for offences, provide for the destruction of firearms illegally imported into the country.”
Leading the debate, the sponsor of the bill, Senator Uba Sani, said the bill was first read on the floor of the Senate on November 25,2020.
Sani who is the Chairman,Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions said the bill sought to impose stiffer penalty for offenses in the Principal Act and provide for the destruction of firearms in the possession of individuals without valid licences.
“The main aim of the proposed amendments is to curtail the proliferation of illegal arms and bring the existing law in line with global best practices.
” The amendment will also effectively address some of the security challenges currently plaguing Nigeriia” he said.
He stated that the country needed a legislation that would provide for stringent punishments to deter perpetrators of the illegal act.
Supporting the debate, the Senator representing Ekiti South under the PDP and senate minority leader, Biodun Olujimi said the amendment of the bill would help to curb the menace of insecurity that has become a challenge in the country.
Citing a recent viral video where criminals were seen opening boxes after boxes of ammunition,, the Senator said” if those ammunition found their way into the system, we will be in serious trouble once again,”
Also joined in the debate was Senator Emmanuel Orker-Jev(PDP) representing Benue North West who said “the reasons for the amendment have been articulated but some reasons have been thrown up as a result of this bill which we have consistently agitated on the floor in the past here.
” One of them first,our duty as a legislature is to provide the enabling environment,a legal framework for the Executive so that we have a better society.
According to him,”as long as we have porous borders” no matter how effective a legal framework is put in place, the issues would always be there as not only criminals buy guns but some communites have also found their” ways of buying guns for self-preservation, because they think that the Nigeriian State is not proctecting them”
He added that “so long as we have such grieviances,no matter the legal framework,we will continue to have issues with such people.”
The President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, commended the sponsor of the Bill and all the senators for consistency on discussions that bordered on security challenges in the country.
Lawan said “the security would have been far better if we are able to control the proliferation of firearms in the country.
,He said “the bill as the sponsor mentioned was passed in the 8th Senate and the National Assembly but there was no assent”
The Senate President said there was no compromise for stiffer penalties for anyone caught with an illegal arm and referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to report back within four weeks.
