On Monday, Niger’s Interior Minister, Hamadou Adamou Souley announced that the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) had arrested 9,121 people, and seized 350 weapons since April 2021. This was during a crackdown against insecurity in the country.
Most of these weapons have been smuggled from the war-torn neighbouring country of Libya. Niger continues to suffer from terrorist organizations, in addition to armed groups and bandits across southern Libya, according to Nigerian officials.
Libya’s borders are not the only source of instability, as armed groups remain active on the southwestern borders with Mali and Burkina Faso.
“These daily patrols also seized around 50,000 tons of munitions, 325 kgs of Indian hemp, and 59,000 narcotic tablets”, according to Souley.
In December 2021, Niger’s President, Mohamed Bazoum stated that the failure to combat arms trafficking from Libya was a “fatal mistake”. As the country remains a major supply source for armed groups operating in the Sahel region.
On 28 March, the Head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Mnifi and Bazoum, held a telephone call, where they discussed a number of security and military issues. This included combating terrorism and irregular migration, securing borders, and preventing transnational crimes.
Last month, Niger’s Foreign Minister, Hassoumi Masoudou said that the border with Libya has become a hotbed for organized crime, arms and drug smugglers, and mercenaries since the security situation erupted due to the Libyan crisis.
Hassoumi said that Niger is struggling to restore its stability, and was working to ensure control of its borders. This was during the virtual ministerial meeting at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was held from 26-27 March.