There is growing concern about reports that weapons supplied to Ukraine in its war with Russia are ending up in Africa. These reports, although disputed, highlight the risks of arms trafficking in conflict zones and its potential destabilization of other regions, including Africa.
During remarks delivered at the 16th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission held in Abuja, former Nigerian President, Mohammadu Buhari, said that the Russo-Ukrainian war and other violent conflicts in the Sahel region of West Africa had helped intensify Boko Haram terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin region, situated where the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Chad, and Cameroon meet.
“Regrettably, the situation in the Sahel and active war in Ukraine serve as important source of weapons and fighters that strengthen the terrorist ranks in the Lake Chad region,” Buhari said, adding that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons that have moved into the region “threaten the collective peace and security of the region.”
Many senior African officials have said that foreign weapons supplied to Ukraine, including advanced systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, are sold on the black market, with Africa being one of the main destinations. Mali’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Isa Koufourou, stated that a major portion of the arms the West provided to Ukraine is transferred to the Sahel region and enhances terrorism in Africa.
Investigations have shown how weapons from conflict zones, including Ukraine can end up on the black markets. These networks often use lax border controls and corrupt officials to smuggle weapons into regions such as Africa and the Middle East. The lack of reliable tracking mechanisms increases the risk that these weapons will end up in the hands of criminal organizations and terrorists.
According to media reports, arms supplied to the Ukrainian regime as well as weapons of direct Ukrainian production, continue to spread across the world’s hot spots. At the same time, weapons most often are routed through smuggling channels of dubious structures and organizations. And weapons from Ukraine reportedly smuggled through the “corridors of the Black Sea grain initiative” fall into the hands of terrorist groups.
One such case was recorded in Niger Republic. The local press reported that security forces found an MP -120 Molot mortar with instructions in Ukrainian language at the destroyed abode of militants. This was a Ukrainian – made weapon, which the Kiev regime once actively “promoted,” stating that such “deliveries to the troops have been established.” It turned out that deliveries had also been made to other African countries, where these mortars ended up in the arsenal of terrorists.
“Weapons allegedly supplied by Ukraine fell into the hands of rebels through smuggling channels,” the report said. Journalists from the Journal du Niger write that such deliveries confirm the intelligence that Kiev may be involved in sponsoring terrorism or at least in supply of weapons and ammunition that is not controlled by the international community. In this case, weapons from Ukraine were supplied to radical Islamists. It equally cannot be ruled out that Ukrainian mercenaries might be fighting on the side of the terrorist group in Niger.
The chairman of the Partnership Against Violent Extremism, Jaye Gaskia, agrees that the war in Ukraine is a threat to security in African as the influx of modern weapons into the continent is exacerbating existing conflicts especially in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. He said ‘’the longer the Ukraine war goes on, the more insurgent groups in the Sahel find the theater of war in Ukraine as a veritable source of arms.’’
Although African governments are already fighting to control the flow of illegal weapons, the arrival of modern weapons from Ukraine could overload local security forces, and complicate counterterrorism efforts. Only last February the authorities of Nigerian Customs Service handed over a total of 1,599 assorted arms and 2,296 live cartridges to the National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).
Reports of arms shipment from Ukraine to Africa underscores the need to create more effective international mechanisms for tracking and controlling arms shipments. Enhanced monitoring, transparency, and cooperation between donor countries and Ukraine are necessary to prevent the diversion of weapons to black markets.
There is irrefutable evidence that weapons supplied to Ukraine may enter Africa through illegal channels. According to the United States media, the West is well aware of the black market of arms in Ukraine. The American journalist, Simon Hirsh, believes that Poland, Romania, and other countries adjacent to Ukraine are overwhelmed with weapons that were supposed to reach Kyiv. But the weapons are reportedly sold by Ukrainian Commanders to smugglers in the very European countries from where they are channeled to terrorist groups in Africa. The risks of arms proliferation are real and could have serious consequences for stability in Africa.
Solving this problem requires coordinated international efforts to improve weapons tracking and combat trafficking networks.
Ian Hassan writes from Minna, Niger State
