Contamination and Impact

Mines

At the Mine Ban Treaty Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in November 2011, the Federal Republic of Nigeria declared it had cleared all known mined areas from its territory.[1]

Survey by a commercial company in 2009 identified mine/explosive remnants of war contamination in 327 suspected hazardous areas across 10 states covering 150km²: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers. The heaviest contamination was in Imo state.[2] In its Article 7 report covering 2010, Nigeria reported that landmines were located in 12 states. In addition to the 10 states above, Nigeria also reported contamination in the states of Bayelsa and Nasarawa.[3]

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

There is no evidence of a problem with cluster munition remnants.[4]

Land Release

Nigeria did not report the amount of area it cleared to meet its Article 5 obligations. However, they did report finding 820 antipersonnel mines, 325 antivehicle mines, and 17,519 items of unexploded ordnance.[5]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Nigeria was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2012. In December 2009, at the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, Nigeria stated that, “as soon as some limited numbers of anti-personnel landmines were discovered in some parts of Nigeria, we took prompt action to identify and to destroy these mines to protect civilian lives and community livelihoods.”[6] At the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in November 2011, Nigeria declared it had “ensured the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in areas under our jurisdiction or control in which these mines were known or suspected to be emplaced.”[7]