By Sandra Kenneth
The Federal Government on Thursday destroyed 2,819 illicit and decommissioned small arms and light weapons in Abuja, bringing the total number of illegal arms permanently removed from circulation to approximately 19,000.
The exercise, organized by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment in Giri, forms part of ongoing government efforts to curb the proliferation of illegal weapons fueling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and violent crimes across Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the NCCSALW, retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police Johnson Kokumo, described the exercise—conducted via burning and subsequent smelting—as a “deliberate, verifiable, and irreversible act of national security.”
“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.
According to Kokumo, the centre has recovered over 21,000 illicit, obsolete, and unserviceable weapons since its inception, having destroyed more than 16,000 prior to Thursday’s event. He commended inter-agency collaboration, noting that the Nigeria Police Force contributed the largest portion of the destroyed arms, surrendering 11,907 automatic firearms and locally fabricated weapons seized nationwide. He also lauded the Armed Forces, Department of State Services (DSS), and Nigeria Customs Service for releasing recovered arms.
Issuing a stern warning to illegal arms dealers and traffickers, Kokumo declared: “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.”
In his remarks, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu—represented by Dr. Dennis Otuaro, Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme—described the public destruction as a milestone that prevents seized arms from slipping back into criminal hands through theft or negligence.
“Arms that are seized but poorly tracked, improperly stored, or inadequately accounted for can find their way back into circulation,” Ribadu warned. “Public, transparent, and verifiable destruction permanently closes that possibility. It guarantees that these recovered weapons can never again be used against any Nigerian.”
Ribadu reiterated the administration’s commitment to dismantling illegal arms networks through intelligence-driven operations, military force, border security, community policing, and socio-economic interventions. He urged citizens, traditional institutions, and religious leaders to support voluntary disarmament and report illegal arms manufacturing and trafficking to security agencies.
