Breaking: Photos Emerge as FG Destroys Over 2000 Deadly Weapons, Vows To Take Another Action
- The Federal Government held a destruction exercise at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment in Abuja on Thursday, targeting illicit and decommissioned weapons
- The NCCSALW Director-General warned arms traffickers that every weapon in their possession would eventually be traced and put out of circulation
- National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu flagged the risk of recovered weapons being stored without proper accountability, warning they could find their way back to criminals
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FCT, Abuja - Nigeria's Federal Government on Thursday destroyed 2,819 illicit and decommissioned small arms and light weapons in Abuja, pushing the cumulative number of illegal weapons permanently removed from circulation to roughly 19,000.
The exercise was organised by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri, as part of a broader government push to stop the flow of illegal weapons driving terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and communal violence across the country.
Source: Twitter
Weapons burnt and smelted
NCCSALW Director-General, retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police Johnson Kokumo, said the destruction was "a deliberate, verifiable and irreversible act of national security."
He told attendees that the Centre had recovered more than 21,000 illicit, obsolete and unserviceable weapons since it was set up and had destroyed over 16,000 before Thursday's event.
"Every weapon that goes into these flames today is a weapon that can never again be used to threaten a community, disrupt a market, waylay a traveller, or arm a criminal or terrorist enterprise," Kokumo said.
He credited the Nigeria Police Force with the largest contribution to the programme, disclosing that the force had supplied 11,907 automatic firearms and locally fabricated weapons seized across the country. He also commended the Armed Forces, the Department of State Services, and the Nigeria Customs Service for releasing recovered arms for destruction.
Kokumo directed a firm message at illegal arms dealers:
"To those who traffic in illicit arms: the weapons you move will, in time, be found, and they will be destroyed, never to return to circulation."
Ribadu warns against poor storage of seized arms
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, represented at the event by Presidential Amnesty Programme Administrator Dr Dennis Otuaro, called Thursday's exercise "a remarkable achievement" but warned that seizing weapons was not enough on its own.
"Arms that are seized but poorly tracked, improperly stored or inadequately accounted for can find their way back into circulation through theft, negligence or compromise," Ribadu said.
He added that public and transparent destruction was the only reliable way to ensure recovered weapons never returned to Nigeria's streets.
Ribadu also called on Nigerians to report illegal possession, manufacture and traffilking of arms, and encouraged traditional and religious leaders to champion voluntary disarmament in their communities.
The NCCSALW was established under the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Act, 2024, to coordinate the fight against the illegal movement of weapons and ensure that arms recovered by security agencies are permanently taken out of circulation.
Army establishes 4 new divisions
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the establishment of four new Nigerian Army divisions as part of a major reorganisation aimed at strengthening military operations across the country.
Following the presidential approval, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, approved the appointment of General Officers Commanding (GOCs) to lead the newly created formations.
Source: Legit.ng
