Disrupt Cross-Border Arms Supply To Secure 2027 Elections, IGP Tells African Nations

The inspector-general of police (IGP), Tunji Disu, has identified disrupting cross-border arms trafficking as critical to preventing electoral violence and securing Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.

Disu stated this yesterday in Abuja while opening a five-day Small Arms and Light Weapons Identification and Tracing (SALW-IT) Simulation Programme involving security personnel from 12 African countries.

The programme, scheduled from 12th October to October 16, 2026, is designed to strengthen participants’ capacity to identify, mark, register and trace small arms, light weapons and ammunition through technical training and practical simulations at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre.

Participating countries include Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Mali, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, Benin and the Republic of the Congo.

The IGP warned that the proliferation of illicit firearms poses a significant threat to Nigeria’s electoral process, noting that such weapons are often used to intimidate voters, attack political opponents, disrupt polling and target electoral officials and materials.

He attributed the continued movement of illegal weapons partly to porous borders and established trafficking routes, stressing that the scale of the challenge requires coordinated action among neighbouring countries.

According to him, effective weapons identification and tracing would help security agencies uncover trafficking networks, identify financiers and track the routes through which arms reach criminal groups and political thugs.

He said that disrupting these supply chains ahead of the 2027 elections would strengthen efforts to protect voters, electoral personnel, and materials, while creating a safer environment for the conduct of credible elections.

Disu also warned that illicit arms trafficking extends beyond election-related violence, contributing to terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and organised crime across the continent.

He called for stronger regional cooperation through intelligence sharing, coordinated investigations and mutual legal assistance to ensure that criminals could not exploit national borders to escape justice.

The police IGP emphasised that such collaboration must operate through established legal and institutional frameworks to facilitate the lawful identification, investigation and apprehension of suspects involved in transnational crimes.

He further disclosed plans for Inspectors-General of Police from West and East African countries to convene and deliberate on common crime-related challenges, with a view to developing coordinated responses to cross-border security threats.

Regarding the implementation of the training, Disu said the knowledge acquired by participants would be extended to frontline officers through structured training and knowledge sharing across police commands and formations.

He said the initiative would improve officers’ ability to identify and trace recovered weapons, generate actionable intelligence and support routine policing and election-security operations ahead of the 2027 polls.

The IGP commended the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPL), the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), INTERPOL, relevant African Union entities and experts from the German Armed Forces Verification Centre for supporting the programme.

He urged participants to share their operational experiences, strengthen professional relationships and apply the knowledge gained to improve security in their respective countries.

Disu reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to regional and continental efforts to control illicit arms, pledging continued institutional support and operational cooperation to translate the training into improved public safety.

He said the ultimate objective was to strengthen collective responses to arms trafficking and other transnational crimes while supporting a peaceful and secure electoral process in Nigeria in 2027.