ICRC Lauds Nigeria For Ratifying Convention On Cluster Munitions
By Chima Azubuike
The International Committee of the Red Cross has lauded Nigeria for becoming the 111th state to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Our Correspondent reports that Nigeria ratified the treaty on 28th February 2023, prohibits all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions with effect from 1st August.
According to a press statement jointly signed by Aliyu Dawobe and Patrick Griffiths of the ICRC, munitions cause far-reaching havoc on human beings and negative consequences.
The statement partly read, “The continued use of cluster munitions globally causes widespread human suffering, particularly due to their indiscriminate area effect. In 2022, civilians accounted for 97% of all recorded cluster munition casualties.
Cluster munitions that do not explode on impact can pose a threat to communities for years – especially as people seek to return home in the wake of armed conflict.”
While lauding the Nigerian government for rising to the occasion in quelling the dangers of munitions, ICRC called on all parties to discontinue the use and keeping of such dangerous weapons.
“In Nigeria, we work alongside the Nigerian Red Cross Society to help raise awareness among communities of the risks posed by these explosive remnants of war.
“Nigeria becomes the 35th country in Africa to ratify the treaty, underscoring the shared responsibility to prohibit weapons that have dire and long-standing humanitarian consequences.
We call on all states and parties to armed conflict to immediately stop using, producing, transferring and stockpiling cluster munitions,” the statement added.
