Illegal firearms factories in Nigeria, often masquerading as legitimate businesses, are increasingly becoming a potent threat to the country's internal security and social stability.
The extent of the menace is borne out by police unearthing a succession of illegal gun factories across the West African nation.
Copycat versions of AK-47, barrel guns, pistols, cartridges – you name it, they produce them.
Last October, investigators busted a blacksmith's factory in Lagos that served as a front for producing illegal arms, indicating the ingenuity of those behind such illicit enterprises.
"See how perfect this fabricated AK-47 is. It's unbelievable," Nigeria Police Force's spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi wrote on X recently, posting a picture of him displaying a weapon purportedly seized from an illegal gun factory in Plateau state.
Recently, the Nigerian Army raided another such factory in the southern state of Delta.
The pattern looks familiar, from Plateau state in central Nigeria to Lagos in the southwest. Security agents raid factories, seize weapons in large numbers and make arrests, only for the sprawl of gunrunning to grow further.
"Production of illegal weapons is concentrated in southeast Nigeria and north-central Nigeria," Group Captain (retd) Sadiq Garba Shehu tells TRT Afrika.
West African problem
The challenge isn't limited to Nigeria. Many countries in the neighbourhood, including those battling internal conflict and political chaos, have entrenched firearms cartels that have proved difficult to uproot.
According to an article on Relief Web, an information service functioning under the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, illegal gunsmiths have existed in countries like Mali, Senegal, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast for a long time.
A 2018 report on gender mainstreaming in the peace and security architecture of the regional bloc ECOWAS blamed illegal gun factories for the "widespread possession and circulation of weapons in civilian hands".
Besides the distribution of small firearms, this trend has been linked to the escalation of internal crises in almost all of the affected countries, more so in West Africa.
ECOWAS has repeatedly called on member states to take stricter, concerted action to stall the proliferation of illegal weapons in the sub-region.
While many governments have cracked down on gunrunning, illegal arms factories haven't just survived. In several countries, including Nigeria, they seem to be thriving right under the noses of security agencies.
Modus operandi
Illegal gun factories in Nigeria are notorious for producing imitations that are hard to tell from the original.
"All these pistols were locally fabricated in the (illegal) factory in Jos. The guys are talented," says police spokesperson Adejobi, posting a picture of nine seized pistols on his X handle.
So, what drives illegal firearms factories in the region?
"Criminality fuels demand," explains Group Captain Shehu. "Ethnic and religious communal conflicts gave birth to the ethnic militia, which obviously couldn't obtain weapons through legal means. Therein exists the market."
According to analysts, firearms manufactured in these illegal factories constitute a large portion of those in circulation. Group Captain Shehu says illegal gun factories "contribute to 40% of the problem".
Shift in strategy
The response to Adejobi's social media post suggests that many Nigerians believe that security agencies should approach the problem differently.
"We need to work on them, for our good," the police spokesperson wrote, drawing comments suggesting that the authorities need to harness the "talents" of those who illegally manufacture firearms for the country's benefit.
Group Captain Shehu reckons this is easier said than done. "It's hardly possible to wean them off illegal gun manufacturing since their motivation stems from either money or ethno-religious sentiment," he says.
Whatever the feasibility of the suggested solutions, both governments and the people of the subregion can do without the insecurity caused by the widespread distribution of unlicensed firearms through illegal factories
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