Key developments since May 2003: On 22 June 2004, Nigeria submitted
its initial Article 7 transparency report, which was due on 28 August 2002.
Nigeria declared a stockpile of 3,364 antipersonnel mines, which it plans to
retain for training and development. It states national implementation
legislation is being drafted. Nigerian Army Engineers are expected to complete
the clearance of UXO from the 2002 Lagos bomb blast in the second half of
2004.
Key developments since 1999: Nigeria acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty
on 27 September 2001 and it entered into force on 1 March 2002. It has been
more active regionally and internationally on the issue since that time.
Nigeria submitted its initial Article 7 report almost two years late, on 22 June
2004. It has not yet adopted any legal national implementation measures. After
initially indicating it had no antipersonnel mines, even for training purposes,
Nigeria declared a stock of 3,364 mines, all of which will be retained. A
massive explosion at an ammunition transit depot in Lagos in January 2002
created a significant UXO problem.
Mine Ban Policy
Nigeria was not active in the Ottawa Process. With the return of democracy
in May 1999, Nigeria began making positive statements regarding the Mine Ban
Treaty.[1] The President signed
Nigeria’s instrument of accession to the Mine Ban Treaty on 23 July 2001
and it was formally deposited with the United Nations on 27 September 2001. The
treaty entered into force for Nigeria on 1 March 2002. Nigeria does not have
national implementing legislation in place. It reported in June 2004 that:
“The Federal Ministry of Justice is drafting national law to incorporate
the provisions of the Convention. This will be submitted to National Assembly
for legislation.”[2] It
further noted, “A focal point has been established in the Ministry of
Defence for the implementation of the
Convention.”[3]
Nigeria’s initial Article 7 transparency report, which was due 28
August 2002, was submitted almost two years late on 22 June
2004.[4] The report covers the
period from 1 March 2002 to 31 December 2003.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Nigeria is educating the
Nigerian armed forces and police about the Mine Ban Treaty and other relevant
aspects of International Humanitarian Law. The ICRC gives regular briefings in
Nigeria’s military training institutions, such as the National War
College, Armed Force Command and Staff College, Nigeria Defence Academy and Unit
formations of the armed
forces.[5]
Nigeria attended the Fourth (Geneva 2002) and Fifth (Bangkok 2003) Meetings
of States Parties, and has participated regularly in intersessional Standing
Committee meetings since 2002, including the February and June 2004 meetings.
Since its accession to the treaty, Nigeria has been active in regional landmine
meetings. From 28–29 January 2004, Nigeria participated in a workshop on
the implementation of the ban treaty in West Africa, held in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso. There, its representatives reaffirmed the country’s
commitment to a total ban on antipersonnel landmines, and called on states to
harmonize their military doctrine with the provisions of the convention, and
adopt all other measures to enlighten their armed forces on the provisions and
requirements of the
Convention.[6] In October 2001,
Nigeria hosted the “Conference on Arms and International Humanitarian Law:
the CCW and the Ottawa Treaty,” in
Abuja.[7]
Nigeria has voted in support of every pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution
since 1996, including UNGA Resolution 58/53 on 8 December 2003.
Nigeria has not engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties have
had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2,
and 3. Thus, Nigeria has not made known its views on issues related to joint
military operations with non-States Parties, antivehicle mines with sensitive
fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for
training. A government official told Landmine Monitor in 2004 that Nigerian
forces involved with the peacekeeping mission in Liberia are mindful of not only
the Mine Ban Treaty, but also other aspects of international humanitarian
law.[8]
Nigeria is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use
Nigeria is not known to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines.
In the past Nigeria has stated that it has not acquired or used antipersonnel
mines since the 1967-1970 Biafra Civil War. Nigeria has denied allegations that
its ECOWAS troops used mines in the 1990s in Liberia and Sierra
Leone.[9]
In February 2001, the Chief of Operations of the Nigerian Army said that most
Nigerian antipersonnel mines were used up in the war, and the remaining stocks
destroyed shortly thereafter. He said that army doctrine had been changed and
that there was no training in antipersonnel mine use. He stated that Nigeria
uses “pyrotechnics” as an alternative to antipersonnel mines, and
that no antipersonnel mines are kept even for training or development
purposes.[10]
However, slides presented to States Parties in May 2002 indicated Nigeria
still had antipersonnel mines in stocks. On 27 January 2002, the Ammunition
Transit Depot in Ikeja Cantoment, Lagos, caught fire resulting in a large number
of explosives being activated, with massive destruction of property and loss of
lives. At the 30 May 2002 meeting of the Standing Committee on Stockpile
Destruction, a representative of Munitions Consultants (United Kingdom) gave a
presentation on the Lagos incident, and several slides showed antipersonnel
mines that had been recovered from the
wreckage.[11] The press
reported an injury due to a mine the day after the incident.
In its 2004 Article 7 report, Nigeria declared that it has a stockpile of
3,364 Dimbat mines and that it would retain the entire stockpile for training
and development purposes.[12]
The origins of the mines were not given, but in 1999 Landmine Monitor reported
that in the past Nigeria had imported antipersonnel mines from former
Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, former Czechoslovakia, France and
Britain.[13]
Landmine Problem, Mine Action and Funding
Nigeria is not mine-affected. Mines laid in the Biafra Civil war have all
been cleared.[14] Nigeria
reports: “The only area contaminated by UXO [unexploded ordnance] is the
area affected by the Lagos bomb blast of 2002. The area has been surveyed and
partial clearance and destruction have taken place in 2002, with the assistance
of the USA and UK. Arrangements have been concluded by the Nigerian Army
Engineers to complete the clearance and destruction of the UXO. The exercise is
expected to start in the last week of July 2004 and it will take about 27 weeks
to complete.”[15]
In 2002, Landmine Monitor reported that the United States donated $2,668,000
for the Lagos bomb blast disposal budget. This included provision of fully
equipped and trained US UXO clearance and verification teams, and training of 20
Nigerian military to complete
clearance.[16]
Landmine Casualties
In 2004, the Nigerian delegation to the Standing Committee meetings told
Landmine Monitor, “There are many people with disabilities in Nigeria, but
we have no specific records of those who are victims of antipersonnel mines
since we have not had mine-related incidents for a very long
time.”[17] The delegation
said Nigeria has laws and policies dealing with people with disabilities.
There were casualties from landmines laid in the Biafra civil war, but no
further information is available. It is not known if any Nigerian soldiers
involved in peacekeeping operations have been killed or injured by landmines.
In January 2002, the day after the explosions at the Lagos Ammunition Transit
Depot, a young man was reportedly injured after stepping on a landmine at the
scene.[18] A Nigerian human
rights group, Environmental Rights Action, has reported at least one injury was
caused by unexploded ordnance in December
2002.[19]
[1] The new government’s move toward
the treaty was paralleled by efforts by the ICBL and several Nigeria-based
groups to encourage the government to take action. See Landmine Monitor Report
2000, pp. 209-210, and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 255-256, for further
details. Nigeria was the last member of the Economic Committee of West African
States (ECOWAS) 16-member regional group to join the Mine Ban
Treaty. [2] Article 7 Report, Form A,
22 June 2004. In an interview at the National Assembly in Abuja on 11 March
2004, Barrister Charles Bala, of the legal drafting section in the Senate, told
Landmine Monitor that the draft bill had been presented to the National
Assembly, but not much had been done to facilitate its passage into law by the
Legislature. Reportedly general elections in 2003 and subsequent seating of the
new members of Parliament caused delays. In an interview at the Federal
Ministry of Justice in Abuja on 5 March 2004, the department responsible for
drafting legislation declined to give a copy of the draft bill to Landmine
Monitor. [3] Article 7 Report, Form
A, 22 June 2004; Interview with Mr. Bukar-Kolo, Head, Disarmament Desk, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, 4 March 2004. Bukar-Kolo said the absence of a
particular government agency to specifically handle international treaties has
made it difficult to gather relevant information.
[4] The date on the report prepared
by Nigeria is 21 June 2004; it was submitted to the UN the next day.
[5] Interview with Carmen Burger, in
ICRC (Nigeria) Newsletter, May 2003, p. 5. ICRC also supported Nigeria’s
participation in the intersessional work program in Geneva in 2004.
[6] Interview with Mr. Bukar-Kolo,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4 March 2004. Bukar-Kolo was one of
Nigeria’s representatives at the Ouagadougou workshop. Representatives
included senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. [7] The conference was
co-sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross and ECOWAS, and was
attended by 14 countries from the
region. [8] Telephone interview with
Lt. Col. Obidah Ethan, Spokesperson, Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Contingent, in
Liberia, 11 March 2004. [9] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 256-257, and Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp.
201-203, for further details. In Liberia ECOWAS reportedly laid mines around its
installations. Upon leaving Liberia, ECOMOG reportedly took all its records,
including those on landmine laying and destruction, to its new operational
headquarters in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Unsuccessful efforts have been made to
obtain these records. UNICEF officially requested information on 12 May
2004. [10] Interview with Maj.General
Yellow-Duke, Bamako, Mali, 15 February
2001. [11] The presentation was given
by Bob Scott, Munitions Consultants, UK, to the Standing Committee on Stockpile
Destruction, Geneva, 30 May 2002. See page 12 at http://www.gichd.ch/pdf/mbc/SC_may02/speeches_sd/Scott_Nigeria.pdf
. US experts involved in the clean-up confirmed to Landmine Monitor the
presence of antipersonnel mines. [12]
Article 7 Report, Form D, 23 June 2004.
[13] Landmine Monitor Report 1999,
pp. 202-203. [14] Landmine Monitor
Report 2000, p. 211; US Department of State, Hidden Killers, July 1993, p.
133. [15] Article 7 Report, Form J, 22
June 2004. [16] US Department of
State, “The US Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” Fact
Sheet, 5 April 2002; email from Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs,
Department of State, 16 July
2002. [17] Interview with Nigerian
delegation to intersessional Standing Committee meetings, Geneva, 24 June
2004. [18] “Today in the
Nigerian Papers,” P.M. News, 29 January 2002; Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 386. [19] “Unexploded
Ordnance Threatens Residents of Southern Town,” IRIN, 24 December
2002.