Illegal Weapons Flow Fuels Urban Crime in Lagos

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The Nigeria Customs Service in mid-July seized 31 weapons, including pump action rifles, various pistols and 442 rounds of ammunition, at two ports in Lagos. The weapons were hidden in plastic drums and sacks of charcoal.

The bust, which resulted in two arrests, was made as authorities decried the proliferation of illegal weapons into the city, as the weapons are often used in crimes such as drug trafficking, armed robbery, kidnapping, murder and sexual and gender-based violence.

“Most worrisome in all these [crimes] is a noticeable trend that indicates an increasing local expertise in the [manufacture] of various types of firearms including replicas of foreign made pistols, AK47 and other assault rifles,”Idowu Owohunw, head of the Lagos State Police Command, said in a report by Nigerian newspaper Vanguard.

Most of the illegal weapons that flow into Lagos pass through ports in West Africa while some are imported illegally over land borders or originate from other continents, according to the Institute for Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

In Lagos, participants in the illegal arms trade include blacksmiths who manufacture weapons, corrupt security personnel and businessmen, while end users are often kidnappers, armed robbers, petroleum pipeline vandals, urban militias, ethnic militias and cultists that terrorize the city and its outskirts, the ISS report said.

As in other urban areas, many of those engaged in weapons trafficking in and around Lagos are young people. About 70% of Nigeria’s population is under 30.

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 70 million young people in the country are of working age but more than 54% are unemployed. Many young Nigerians have left rural areas to look for employment in cities but turn to crime when they can’t find legitimate jobs.

Because Africa is the world’s youngest continent, these challenges are widespread. About 40% of the continent’s population is under the age of 15.

Henrik Urdal, a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute in Norway, found that economic instability in areas with large numbers of underemployed young people can produce a greater risk of terrorist events.

“In poorer countries, where the opportunity costs of youth are particularly low, failure to facilitate an integration of youth into the labor market may actually increase the risk of political violence,” Urdal said in a report by the Wilson Center, a United States think tank.

One major problem is that authorities often view young people as threats rather than opportunities, Stephen Commins wrote for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS).

“The need to belong and find identity draws young men to gangs, criminal networks, extremist groups and vigilantism,” Commins wrote. “Indeed, youth find identity in such groups, particularly when faced with economic inequality and unemployment.”

As Commins reported, Africa’s youth bulge is just one factor driving violence in urban areas. Unplanned growth, mistrust of security forces, the rise of areas controlled by criminal networks and the inability of state institutions to resolve disputes over land, services and livelihoods all contribute to urban violence.

“This, in turn, spurs the creation of vigilante organizations and the imposition of street justice as various groups seek to either protect or enforce their self-interests,” Commins wrote.

But it is foolish to stereotype young people as drivers of violence, Dr. Olawale Ismail, a lecturer at King’s College in London, said during an ACSS webinar titled “Trends: Youth Bulges, Security and Peace in Africa.”

Ismail argued that young people in Africa are the biggest victims of violence and the biggest promoters of peace. Over the past two decades, Ismail noted, young people have staged mass protests for fair elections and human rights, driving positive societal changes.

Statistics suggest that the number of unemployed young people in African cities will continue to rise. Africa’s urban population is expected to increase from more than an estimated 652 million in 2023 to 1.2 billion by 2050.

But the number of available jobs does not align with population growth. About 10 million to 12 million Africans enter the labor market each year but only about 3 million formal jobs are created.