Illicit Weapons Trafficking, Manufacturing Fuels Lagos Violence

ADF STAFF

Nigerian authorities are working to contain a thriving illicit weapons market in Lagos as local manufacturers of illegal guns continuously hone their trade.

Local illegal gun factories are known for producing imitation weapons that look like the originals.

In October 2023, authorities in Lagos busted a blacksmith’s factory that was a cover for manufacturing illegal firearms. Authorities seized single- and double-barreled guns, pistols, cartridges and drilling machines during the raid, which ended in the arrests of a notorious gang leader and more than 30 suspects.

“See how perfect this fabricated AK-47 is. It’s unbelievable,” Nigeria Police Force spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi wrote on X.

Some commenters on Adejobi’s post suggested that the government could put the illegal manufacturers’ talents to good use.

Retired Nigerian Air Force Group Capt. Sadiq Garba Shehu does not think that would work.

“It’s hardly possible to wean them off illegal gun manufacturing since their motivation stems from either money or ethno-religious sentiment,” Shehu told TRT Afrika.

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 Security Studies.

However, Shehu told TRT Afrika that he believes illegal gun manufacturers produce about 40% of the country’s illicit arms.

Participants in the illegal arms trade in Lagos also include 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 institute reported.

The Nigeria Customs Service in mid-March seized arms and weapons during a routine inspection of imported goods in Lagos. It was unclear how many arms and weapons were confiscated, but the haul included automatic rifles and pump-action guns, according to Nigerian online news platform The Street Journal.

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in late January intercepted another shipment of arms in Lagos, along with 1,274 parcels of cocaine and other drugs.

That bust, made with the Customs Service and other security agencies, followed months of intelligence gathering and tracking containers that arrived from Durban, South Africa, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi told Nigeria’s Channels Television. One suspect was arrested.

As in other urban areas, many of those engaged in weapons trafficking in Lagos, and around Nigeria, are young. About 70% of Nigeria’s population is under 30 and 42% are under 15. Many younger people are attracted to illicit activity such as arms and weapons trafficking due to unemployment.

The country’s youth unemployment rate is more than 42% and the youth underemployment rate is more than 20%, according to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics.

Millions of young people in Lagos and around Nigeria have a poor quality of life, low living standards and lack education. Nigeria accounts for 20% of the world’s children who are out of school, according to UNICEF.

Analysts such as Akanni Ibukun Akinyemi, professor of demography and social statistics at Obafemi Awolowo University, and

Jacob Wale Mobolaji, a lecturer in the university’s demography and social statistics department, say Nigeria’s massive young population could benefit the country. They say, however, that the government is not doing enough to get the potential benefits of its youthful population.

“A large population of unskilled, economically unproductive, unhealthy and poorly educated young people is … a burden to society,” Akinyemi and Mobolajiwrote in The Conversation.

This could be especially problematic over the next 25 to 30 years, when analysts say Nigeria’s population could double.

“Nigeria needs to balance population growth with economic prosperity,” Akinyemi and Mobolaji wrote. “This makes it possible to achieve a demographic dividend — faster economic growth arising from a favorable population age structure and favorable social and economic policies.”