Stopping Cross-Border Arms Flows Key to Secure 2027 Elections — IGP Disu

By Aviashima Toom

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has identified the disruption of illicit cross-border arms trafficking as critical to ensuring peaceful, free and fair general elections in Nigeria in 2027.

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

The programme, scheduled for October 12 to 16, 2026, brings together participants from Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Mali, Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, Benin and the Republic of the Congo.

According to the IGP, the initiative is designed to strengthen participants' capacity to identify, mark, register and trace small arms, light weapons and ammunition through technical instruction and practical exercises at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre.

He warned that the proliferation of illicit weapons remains a major threat to electoral security, noting that armed individuals and criminal networks often use such weapons to intimidate voters, harass political opponents, disrupt polling and attack electoral personnel and materials.

Disu explained that many of the weapons circulate through porous borders and established trafficking routes, making international cooperation essential to tackling the problem.

He emphasised that effective weapons identification and tracing would enable investigators to uncover trafficking networks, identify financiers and trace supply routes, thereby helping security agencies target those responsible for supplying weapons to criminals and political thugs.

The IGP maintained that dismantling these networks ahead of the 2027 general elections would strengthen election security, protect voters and electoral officials, and promote public confidence in the democratic process.

Beyond electoral violence, Disu noted that illicit small arms and light weapons continue to fuel terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and organised crime across Africa, threatening peace, stability and development on the continent.

He therefore called for stronger regional and continental cooperation through timely intelligence sharing, coordinated investigations and mutual legal assistance to identify and apprehend individuals involved in cross-border criminal activities.

According to him, cooperation among African security agencies must be strengthened through established legal and institutional frameworks to prevent criminals from exploiting national borders to evade justice.

The IGP also disclosed plans for Inspectors-General of Police from West and East African countries to convene and deliberate on crime-related challenges, with a view to developing coordinated strategies for addressing transnational criminal activities.

To ensure the programme delivers lasting benefits, Disu said the knowledge acquired by participants would be extended to frontline officers through structured training and knowledge-sharing initiatives across police commands and formations.

He explained that the initiative would improve officers' capacity to identify and trace weapons, recover illicit firearms, develop actionable intelligence and support routine policing and election-security operations ahead of the 2027 polls.

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

He urged participants to share operational experiences, establish enduring professional relationships and apply the knowledge gained to strengthen arms-control efforts and security cooperation in their respective countries.

Disu reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force's commitment to regional and continental initiatives aimed at controlling the proliferation of illicit weapons, pledging sustained institutional support and operational collaboration to translate the training into improved public safety.

He expressed confidence that strengthened arms-tracing capabilities and cross-border cooperation would contribute significantly to creating a safer environment for Nigeria's 2027 general elections.