Nigeria destroys 2,809 illicit arms in crackdown on illegal weapons

The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), has destroyed 2,809 illicit, decommissioned and unserviceable weapons recovered by security and law enforcement agencies across the country.

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The destruction exercise held on Thursday at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment in Giri, Abuja, forms part of the federal government’s efforts to curb the proliferation of illegal weapons fueling insecurity in Nigeria, according to NTA news.

Speaking at the event, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, represented by the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dennis Otuaro, said the spread of illicit arms remains a major driver of the country’s security challenges.

He said terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes and other violent crimes continue to thrive because of the widespread availability of illegal firearms.

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Mr Ribadu noted that every weapon recovered by the armed forces, the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies, and every weapon permanently destroyed through such exercises, represents a threat removed from society.

He added that the destruction exercise sends a strong message to individuals involved in the illegal manufacture, trafficking and use of firearms that recovered illicit weapons will be permanently destroyed to prevent them from returning to criminal networks.

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Also speaking, the Director-General of the centre, Johnson Kokumo, said the destruction of recovered firearms is a critical step in preventing them from being reused in criminal activities.

According to him, every weapon that is properly recovered, registered, decommissioned and destroyed is one less weapon available to threaten the lives and safety of Nigerians.

Mr Kokumo disclosed that the centre has recovered and destroyed about 19,000 illicit weapons since its establishment in 2021 as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the circulation of illegal arms in the country.

The centre coordinates national efforts to regulate, recover and destroy illicit small arms and light weapons, working with the military, police and other security agencies to address the growing threat posed by the proliferation of illegal firearms.