National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, On Thursday, criticized members of the police and military who divert arms and ammunition from their bases to criminal groups.
He described these security personnel as the “worst human beings,” stressing the urgent need for mechanisms to prevent this internal betrayal.
Speaking during a ceremony in Abuja where the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons destroyed confiscated weapons, Ribadu lamented the treachery within Nigeria’s security forces.
He said, “We have to find a way of putting a stop to this. We must if we want to recover our country and live in peace and stability. 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.”
Ribadu made it clear that the situation must be urgently addressed, not just from within, but by also tackling external actors involved in illegal arms trade.
He emphasized, “We must fight these people but also there are merchants of death and evil from outside the world.”
The NSA highlighted that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons has intensified major security challenges in Nigeria, including insurgency, banditry, and other violent crimes.
He further cursed those complicit in trafficking weapons to terrorists, bandits, and other criminal groups, revealing that many of these arms were originally state-owned but were diverted by corrupt elements within the security agencies.
Ribadu asserted that the government was taking strong steps to combat the spread of illegal weapons, including initiatives like the destruction of unserviceable, obsolete, and recovered arms.
He added, “All illicit arms, not only unserviceable, all illicit. Any weapon that is taken is out there that is through an illegal process. We have laws that govern ownership of small arms. If you do not follow it, it is an illegal arm and it is supposed to be destroyed completely.”
Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Johnson Kokumo, who currently heads the NCCSALW, noted that this was the third weapons destruction exercise since the center’s inception and the first under his leadership.
Kokumo explained that the proliferation of small arms poses a critical threat to security, both in Nigeria and across the West African region.
Kokumo confirmed that over 2,400 illicit weapons would be destroyed in this exercise. These include decommissioned, unserviceable, and confiscated arms from various security operations.
Among these, he mentioned arms recently seized by the Nigeria Customs Service in Port Harcourt, which will be destroyed once ongoing legal proceedings conclude.
“These weapons have been mopped up by the military, police, and other security agencies across the country,” Kokumo explained. “By permanently removing these arms from circulation, we reduce the risk they pose to our communities and send a clear message that Nigeria will not tolerate the illegal trafficking and possession of small arms and light weapons.”
He also shared that the center is currently tracing and investigating several other illicit weapons, including those handed over by the Nigeria Customs Service. Once the legal processes are complete, these arms will also be destroyed.
According to Kokumo, the destruction of these weapons has already had a significant impact, helping to remove thousands of dangerous items from circulation, which in turn improves national security.
