NIGERIA: Chemical Weapons Prohibition Bill Passes Second Reading in Senate

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A bill seeking to prohibit the development, production, transfer and use of chemical weapons in Nigeria through the establishment of a native authority that will guarantee effective implementation of chemical weapons convention scaled second reading on the floor of the Senate yesterday.
 
Tagged: “Chemical Weapons Prohibition Bill 2013,” the bill seeks to provide a legal framework that will stem and control the use of chemical weapons.
 
Leading debate on the bill, Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, said the main thrust of the bill was to establish a body that would ensure effective liaison with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) with a view to fulfilling Nigeria’s obligation under the convention.
 
 
He described chemical weapon as toxic chemical contained in a delivery system such as shell or bomb including any toxic chemical or its precursor that can lead to death, injury, temporary or sensory irritation through its chemical action.
 
According to him, victims of chemical weapons usually suffer painful and traumatic death or debilitating effects throughout their lifetime, adding that these weapons have over the years been evolved through the development of chemical products such as artillery shells, mortar projectiles, aerial bombs, spray tanks and landlines.
 
The effect of this development, he said, was the frightening capacity of the weapons to destroy and maim.
 
Recalling that the use of chemical weapons resulted in the destruction of 90,000 lives and over a million casualties  during the World War I, Ndoma-Egba noted that large scale chemical weapons used during the war  and World War II resulted in a large scale abandonment of chemical weapons which he said now posed serious threats to peace in many countries.
 
He also recalled that the world declared a stockpile of chemical weapons by parties to the convention to the tune of 13,024 tonnes including 71,315 tonnes of agents; 8.67 million munitions and containers as well as production facilities declared to OPCW before destruction activities began.
 
He also said records had shown that the volume of chemical weapons held by the United States and Soviet Union during the cold war was capable of destroying a large number of human beings and animals on earth.
 
He explained that Egypt, Israel, North Korea and Iran had been accused of failing to disclose their stockpiles.
 
The senator added that the bill, if passed into law, would enable Nigeria “to meet its commitment to the convention as well as bring its provisions within the constitutional requirements of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution that a treaty is not justiciable in our domestic courts unless it has been domesticated or enacted into law by an Act of the National Assembly.”
 
Therefore he said the bill would: • facilitate the destruction of all chemical weapons (including chemical weapons that may have been abandoned in the country). As of September 2013,  around  82 per cent of the declared stockpile of chemical weapons has been destroyed an indication that the convention is already yielding results.
 
 
•Facilitate the systematic evaluation of chemical and military plants, as well “as investigations of allegations of use and production of chemical weapons based on intelligence of other state parties.
 
•    Facilitate the enforcement of the prohibition in respect of persons (natural or legal) within the territory of Nigeria.
 
•    Prevent, eliminate or reduce drastically the production and use of chemical weapons in the country and across the globe.
 
–  Facilitate the destruction of chemical weapons production facilities and monitor the conversion of such facilities to other uses.  Facilitate cooperation and assistance between Nigeria and other state parties of the OPCW to eradicate and stem the proliferation of chemical weapons globally.
 
• Prevent untold suffering and annihilation of populations by preventing such weapons from getting into wrong hands like insurgents and terrorist groups or lunatic dictators.
• Enhance international cooperation in the peaceful  use of chemistry  in    relevant  areas    of  national    and    global development.
 
The bill was well supported by senators and accordingly committed to the committees on judiciary and science and technology for further legislation.
 
In his remark, Senate President David Mark, who said the initiation of the bill was long overdue, described it as important, comprehensive and detailed.
 
“This bill is long over due because it covers two basic areas. One is for us to rectify the treaty, which we are a party to and the second one is to prohibit the manufacture, production and distribution of chemical weapons. I have gone through the bill. It is quite an important bill, very detailed and very comprehensive. But the reporting process seems rather cumbersome. I think for a bill of this nature, we must make sure that we remove bureaucracy from the reporting system. Because if a report is one which there were so many people involved, then the end result will be that the report won’t get to where it ought to get to finally on time. This is not where you want that kind of long chain of reporting. On the whole, I think it’s a good bill and we should all support it,” he said.
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