The Senate has passed the Firearms Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill 2021 on Wednesday after deliberating on the report of the Senate’s Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
The Chairman of the committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele said the initial fine of N1,000 was not strict enough to deter the illegal importation and sales of firearms in Nigeria.
The fine for illegal importation of arms was therefore increased from N1,000 to N1m to act as a deterrent to violators of this Act.
Section 35 of the bill was also amended to impose a N3m fine or 3 years imprisonment or both on anyone who refused to surrender illegal firearms to the relevant authorities when directed to do such.
Clause 39 of the bill was also amended such that not only the police and the military have the power to seize illegal firearms but other law enforcement agencies.
Bamidele said, “This is necessary because the power to confiscate or seize illegal firearms should be all-inclusive and not limited to a particular arm of force or law enforcement agency.”
The bill further amended sub-clauses (4) and (5) of clause 39 to permit firearms that are not military serviceable grades, but are serviceable, to be deployed for use by the civilian joint task force and other registered vigilante groups but is explicitly under the approval and supervision of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).