The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has strongly condemned policemen and soldiers involved in stealing weapons from their formations and selling them to criminals.
Ribadu described these acts as a serious threat to national security and called for immediate action to stop them.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday during the destruction of illegal arms by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Ribadu said, “The worst human being is a policeman or a soldier who will take arms from his own formations and sell them or hide them out for the bad people to come and kill his own colleagues. We have to find a way of putting a stop to this if we want to recover our country and live in peace and stability.”
Ribadu also emphasized that the spread of illegal small arms and light weapons has worsened issues like insurgency, banditry, and violent crimes across Nigeria. He said many of these illegal weapons originally belonged to the government but ended up in the hands of non-state actors due to corrupt security personnel. He condemned these individuals, saying, “We must fight these people but also there are merchants of death and evil from outside the world.”
The NSA noted that the destruction of unserviceable, obsolete, and recovered arms was part of the government’s effort to reduce the availability of illegal weapons. “All illicit arms, not only unserviceable ones, all illicit arms that come through illegal processes must be destroyed completely,” he said.
During the same event, retired Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Johnson Kokumo, the Director General of NCCSALW, revealed that over 2,400 illegal weapons were being destroyed. He explained that the destruction of these arms helps reduce the risks they pose to communities and shows Nigeria’s commitment to fighting illegal arms trafficking.
“These weapons have been mopped up by the military, police, and other security agencies across the country. By permanently removing these arms from circulation, we reduce the risk they pose to our communities,” Kokumo said.
The NSA and Kokumo both stressed the importance of continuing these efforts to ensure peace and security in Nigeria and the West African region.
