Tinubu urged to declare 6-month gun amnesty, reopen schools

The West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately announce a six-month national gun amnesty programme as part of urgent measures to curb widespread insecurity, kidnapping and banditry across the country. The call was contained in a statement issued by WAANSA Regional Vice President, Igwe Martin […]

The West African Action Network on Small Arms (WAANSA) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately announce a six-month national gun amnesty programme as part of urgent measures to curb widespread insecurity, kidnapping and banditry across the country.

The call was contained in a statement issued by WAANSA Regional Vice President, Igwe Martin Nnamdi, following the group’s participation at the ECOWAS Annual Coordinating Meeting of National Commissions on Small Arms held in Ghana.

According to the statement, the worsening insecurity in Nigeria demands bold and immediate actions from the Federal Government.

WAANSA said, “We urged President Tinubu to declare a six-month gun amnesty, starting on December 10, 2025, which coincides with International Human Rights Day.

“Persons who voluntarily hand over weapons at designated areas approved by the National Security Adviser should be free from any punishment.”

The proposed amnesty, WAANSA said, should be followed by a nationwide arms registration exercise to enable effective tracking and identification of weapons in private hands.

This, the group argued, would significantly reduce the proliferation of illegal small arms and light weapons across the country.

In addition to the amnesty programme, WAANSA appealed to the President to order the immediate reopening of schools nationwide, describing the continued closure of educational institutions due to insecurity as “a demonstration of weakness.”

 

The statement warned that shutting schools gives the “impression that criminals are winning the war” and risks destroying the future of young Nigerians who “must not have their quest for fundamental skills and development dashed.”

 

Equally, WAANSA called for urgent action to fence Nigeria’s borders, claiming that criminal elements exploit the ECOWAS protocol on free movement to infiltrate the country.

 

“Most of the criminal actors abuse the ECOWAS protocol of free entry to unleash harm on Nigerians,” the group stated, adding that porous borders have increased organised crime and illicit arms flow in the region.