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 2013, Nigeria’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva informed States Parties that the “Government of Nigeria is taking every necessary step to expedite ratification of this convention.”[1] Since 2010, Nigerian officials have said that ratification is ongoing, but as of June 2014 the process had not yet advanced to the National Assembly.[2] Previously, in September 2012, Nigeria said “urgent consultations with relevant stakeholders” were being undertaken “in order to expedite ratification of the convention in the nearest future.”[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.

Despite not ratifying, Nigeria has continued to engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties held in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Nigeria attended intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in 2011 and 2012, but not those held in 2013 or 2014. Nigeria participated in a regional conference on the convention in Accra, Ghana in May 2012, but did not attend a follow-up meeting held in Lomé, Togo in May 2013.

At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2013, Nigeria said that the Convention on Cluster Munitions was a result of “the recognition of unacceptably high and indiscriminate suffering these weapons have caused to civilian populations” and described the convention as “in line with our disarmament objectives and support for global efforts to prevent the grave humanitarian consequences of these and other indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction.”[5]

In an October 2013 statement on behalf of the Africa Group, Nigeria said the group remains seized with the adverse humanitarian impact caused by landmines and cluster munitions and supports the humanitarian objectives of the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munitions.[6]

Nigeria voted in favor of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution in May 2014 that notes “with serious concern reports of the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions” in South Sudan and urges all parties to refrain “from similar such use in the future.”[7]

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 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.[8] In May 2012, Sierra Leone reaffirmed the use allegations.[9]

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.[10]

Stockpiling

The precise status and composition of the current stockpile of cluster munitions is not known. In April 2012, a government official said Nigeria has a stockpile of BL-755 cluster bombs and the government has “directed that steps be taken to destroy excess stockpiles of these cluster bombs, while retaining the approved quantity for training purposes.”[11] In May 2012, an official described Nigeria’s preparations for its stockpile destruction as “on-going.”[12] 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.[13]