The Federal Government has disbanded the National
Task Force on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms,
Ammunition, Light Weapons, Chemical Weapons and Pipeline Vandalism (NATFORCE).
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola,
disclosed this to State House Correspondents after Thursday’s National Security
Council meeting presided over by Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
FACTUAL NAIJA NEWS gathered that the Council,
therefore, ordered the body to disband itself or force the wrath of the federal
government.
It also passed a vote of confidence on
security agencies for their efforts to quell the violence and attacks recorded
nationwide.
It was reported that the upper
legislative chamber had in July passed into law a Bill establishing the
National Commission for the Coordination and Control of the Proliferation of
Small Arms and Light Weapons, with NATFORCE being one of its components.
The House of Representatives is expected to
pass its version of the law upon resumption from recess later in September
2022.
However, security experts have rejected the
Senate’s inclusion of NATFORCE in the new Act, urging the lawmakers to
expunge NATFORCE from the Bill when harmonizing both versions.
The National Centre for the Control of
Small Arms and Light Weapons currently domiciled in the Office of the National
Security Adviser and headed by Maj-Gen. A. M Dikko (retd) is the only national
coordination mechanism for the control and monitoring of the proliferation of
small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.
According to the Minister of Police
Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, who also spoke at the briefing, the Nigerian
constitution protects freedom of association.
However, matters of national security
should be regulated by the Office of the National Security Adviser, he argued.
The Interior Minister, who said the council
received reports from all service chiefs and Inspector-General of Police, said
it is “very satisfied” with the performance of all security agencies and that
the country is moving to the phase of consolidated security.
He said the council also commended the
police for its performance in Ekiti, Osun and Anambra states where governorship
elections were conducted recently.
Speaking on NATFORCE, Aregbesola said
“Equally of concern is the presence of some illegal outfits that impersonate
the legitimate security agencies. Of particular concern is a body called
National Task Force on Illegal Importation of Goods, Small Arms and what have
you, but the short name for it is NATFORCE.
“The Council declares that body an illegal
organization, it should just simply disband itself, because the Council has
ordered all security agencies to enforce the disbandment of that body and other
such bodies that operate illegally without any force of law,” He said.