Last updated July 2013

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Federal Republic of Nigeria signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 12 June 2009.

In September 2012, Nigeria informed States Parties that it has started “urgent consultations with relevant stakeholders in order to expedite ratification of the convention in the nearest future.”[1] An interministerial committee met for the first time in June 2012 to discuss preparations for Nigeria’s ratification of the ban convention.[2] Nigerian officials have provided regular updates on the status of ratification since 2010.[3]

Nigeria participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and joined in the consensus adoption of the convention text in Dublin in May 2008, but it attended the signing conference in Oslo in December 2008 as an observer only and said that signing would not be possible until internal processes had been completed.[4] Nigeria subsequently signed the convention at the UN in New York in June 2009.

Nigeria has continued to engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It attended the convention’s Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012, where it provided an update on ratification. Nigeria participated in intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in April 2012 but did not attend those held in April 2013.

Nigeria did not attend a regional meeting on universalization of the convention held in Lomé, Togo in May 2013.

Nigeria has not yet stated its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions, and retention of cluster munitions and submunitions for training and development purposes.

Nigeria is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Nigeria is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but imported them in the past.

Sierra Leone has said that Nigerian peacekeepers participating in the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) force used cluster munitions in Sierra Leone in 1997, but the use allegation was denied at the time by ECOMOG Force Commander General Victor Malu.[5] In May 2012, Sierra Leone reaffirmed the use allegations.[6]

In September 2012, Nigeria again denied the use allegation, stating:

Nigeria wishes to reiterate the inaccuracy of the statement made by the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor on its 2011 report on Nigeria, to the effect that Sierra-Leone has said that Nigerian peacekeepers under the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) used cluster munitions in Sierra-Leone in 1997. This statement is wrong and incorrect. Nigeria wishes to clarify once again, that ECOMOG is a Regional peacekeeping initiative, and not a Nigerian national body. The regional body, ECOWAS [Economic Community Of West African States], of which Nigeria is part, among others, must be given due credit for resolving the Sierra-Leonean crisis at huge cost to itself in terms of lives and treasure lost.[7]

Stockpiling

The precise status and composition of the current stockpile of cluster munitions is not known, but in April 2012, a government official affirmed that Nigeria has a stockpile of BL-755 cluster bombs and stated that the government has “…directed that steps be taken to destroy excess stockpiles of these cluster bombs, while retaining the approved quantity for training purposes.”[8] In May 2012, an official described Nigeria’s preparations for its stockpile destruction as “on-going.”[9] At the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2012, Nigeria renewed its request for technical assistance and support to destroy the stockpile of BL-755 cluster bombs.[10]