The people of West Africa have suffered greatly from a succession of lengthy and brutal civil wars. This Small Arms Survey report examines armed groups and small arms in the region, and finds that they are an increasing and persistent threat to security. Current efforts to control armed groups need to be stepped up. Today’s armed and aimless youth could well be the spark that ignites tomorrow’s conflagration.
‘Armed groups’ refers to groups equipped with small arms that have the capacity to challenge the state’s monopoly of legitimate force, not just those in opposition to the state. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its 15 members have long understood the destabilising and deleterious effects of small arms and light weapons on the region. The 1998 ECOWAS Moratorium on Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Light Weapons in West Africa represented an important step towards addressing small arms proliferation in the region. ECOWAS, the international community, and civil society are working hard to address the challenges that armed groups present to the promotion of human security.
Much progress has been made and tremendous resources – both human and financial – have been expended. However, the situation can be expected to deteriorate if current efforts are considered sufficient. This survey has found that:
- armed groups are a growing and persistent threat to security. Armed groups are active in a majority of ECOWAS countries and represent a clear threat to regional and human security;
- regardless of their original motives, armed groups can quickly become aimless – but remain no less deadly. They have a dangerous tendency to shift allegiances or to morph from groups originally established to support law and order to those that actively undermine it;
- disaffected youth comprise most of today’s regional armed groups. Lack of economic development and widespread unemployment make membership of an organised armed group a particularly attractive option for the region’s idle youth;
- gangs of untrained, inexperienced youth would be less threatening were it not for easy access to a wide variety of small arms and light weapons. Artisanal gun-making and small-scale arms smuggling are becoming increasingly profitable businesses;
- for the vast majority of groups, the recirculation of existing stockpiles – in particular of official state-owned weapons – through theft, seizure, and corruption is a primary source of armament; and
- between 1998 and 2004, more than 200,000 small arms region-wide were collected, at least 70,000 of which were subsequently destroyed. The quality of those weapons destroyed is questionable, however, and implies that better models are being re-circulated.
If current efforts to contain and disarm armed groups are not stepped up, history could judge the period of this study as a relatively quiet interlude in a destructive cycle of unremitting violence.
- It is imperative that rigorous and transparent stockpile management and security accompany supply-side initiatives. State stockpiles need special scrutiny and monitoring owing to the risk of seizure or theft.
- Despite repeated violations of measures aimed at curbing weapon transfers, monitoring and controlling today’s arms flows – including legal transfers – will reduce the likelihood of future arms seizures and theft.
- Stricter controls over ammunition might be even more successful. Ammunition will deteriorate if not stored carefully and new supplies are constantly required to support combat.
