Boko Haram Weapons: Arms Come Through Our Porous Borders — Ikponmwen

Former Provost Marshal, Brigadier-General Ikponmwen, retd, told Saturday Vanguard: “The illegal importation or smuggling of arms and ammunition is one of several crosses- border— crimes thriving all over the world.

“There is no arguing that border porosity is a dominant-negative factor in Nigeria. From the northern borders alone, there are over 2000 illegal and unmanned entry points to Nigeria from our borders with Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

“Our border with the Republic of Benin also harbours numerous illegal entry points. Similarly, down our southernmost part, from Lagos through Malabo to the Cameroons, constitutes poorly policed territorial waters and our continental shelf. Thus we are unable to find a solution to our border porosity.

“The answer as to how Boko Haram and other criminal elements get their weapons is therefore not far to seek. With the level of porosity of our land and sea borders, the solution to the illegal importation of arms and ammunition and indeed, anything at all, is hardly anywhere in sight.

“The establishment of border security organs must come along with the overhaul of existing ones even as the effort to thoroughly combat corruption is intensified in the polity. Nothing else will eliminate illegal importation of arms to our country,” he stated