The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called on all member states to increase vigilance against the diversion of lawfully acquired weapons and ammunition into the hands of criminal elements.
Abayomi Adeomi, the Acting Head of the ECOWAS Small Arms Division, issued the warning to address the persistent threat of legal armaments being diverted for illicit purposes across the sub-region. He warned that the leakage of state-controlled or legally traded weapons into the black market continues to fuel regional instability and violent crime.
The call for heightened security comes alongside recent efforts by Nigeria’s National Counter-Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) to destroy 17,000 decommissioned weapons and 20,000 rounds of ammunition. This massive disposal of hardware is intended to prevent obsolete or surrendered military and police equipment from being resupplied to insurgents and bandits.
Combatting illicit weapons proliferation
The proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) remains a primary driver of terrorism, kidnapping, and communal clashes in West Africa. According to the warning against the diversion of legal arms, the transition of weapons from official state stockpiles to non-state actors creates a cycle of violence that is difficult to break.
Security experts suggest that the diversion often occurs through several channels, including theft from armouries, corruption within security agencies, or the loss of weapons during active conflict. Once these weapons enter the illicit market, they become the primary tools for organised crime syndicates that operate across national borders.
The destruction of the 17,000 weapons in Nigeria serves as a practical response to this threat. By physically destroying decommissioned assets, the NCCSALW aims to remove the possibility of these items being recovered from the scrap market or stolen and sold to criminal groups. Such measures are increasingly viewed as essential for maintaining the integrity of national security inventories.
For ECOWAS, the challenge remains the enforcement of strict tracking and management protocols across all member states. The regional body is pushing for more robust monitoring of arms transfers and more frequent audits of state armouries to ensure that legal weapons do not end up in unauthorized hands.
Despite these efforts, the scale of the illegal arms trade in West Africa remains vast, with porous borders making the seizure of illicit shipments a constant struggle for regional security forces. Member states are now expected to review their internal arms management policies to align with ECOWAS-mandated security standards.
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