Nigeria has signed the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty. The country joins other countries that signed the treaty to ban nuclear weapons amid tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyeama, signed the treaty on behalf of Nigeria on Wednesday at the UN headquarters on the sidelines of the High-level UN General Assembly.
Onyeama told newsmen that Nigeria was in support of weapons-free world.
He said “right from the early 60s, Nigeria has been a strong advocate of nuclear weapons prohibition and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
“You may recall in the early 60s when France tested an atom bomb-related device in the Sahara and Nigeria cut diplomatic relations with France at the time.
“Nigeria had always been a strong advocate of de-nuclearisation of the world. We are one of the main movers of this treaty.”
He urged countries that signed the treaty, Civil Society Organisations and intergovernmental organisations to convince others to accede to the treaty.
“The point made was that even if those nuclear weapons states were not ready to sign, they should at least take measures to ensure there was no accidental use or deliberate use of nuclear weapons”, Onyeama added.
The treaty would enter into force 90 days after 50 countries ratified it.
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