Nigeria has escalated its response to the proliferation of illicit weapons with the destruction of 2,800 small arms, signalling a deliberate shift toward dismantling the supply chain that fuels terrorism, banditry, and violent crime nationwide.
Desk: Defence & Security
Date: Friday, 7 March 2026
Time: 15:10 WAT
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
The exercise, carried out by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, pushes total weapons destroyed to over 16,000 in four years, positioning disposal not as routine procedure but as a central pillar in disrupting the lifecycle of illicit arms.
Delivering the keynote on behalf of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, Major General Hillary Mabeokwu framed the proliferation of small arms as a structural enabler of insecurity, linking it directly to terrorism, organised crime, and systemic instability.
He said Nigeria’s response is now anchored on institutional enforcement, backed by the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Act 2024 signed by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and aligned with regional obligations under the ECOWAS framework.
System Breakdown
Director General of the Centre, Johnson Kokumo, revealed that the weapons destroyed include decommissioned police stockpiles and arms recovered from active operations, underscoring a critical vulnerability: the recycling of weapons through diversion, poor stockpile management, and illicit trafficking.
He identified three dominant pipelines sustaining the threat, cross-border flows, local fabrication networks, and leakages from state-controlled arsenals, warning that without systemic disruption, recovered weapons risk re-entering circulation.
The destruction exercise signals a transition from reactive seizures to supply-chain denial cutting, off the circulation, reuse, and redistribution of weapons that sustain armed groups.
By institutionalising destruction and tightening inventory control, authorities aim to close the evidentiary and accountability gaps that weaken prosecutions and enable weapons to cycle back into conflict theatres.
Nigeria is expected to deepen enforcement through digitised stockpile management, expanded inter-agency coordination, and stronger regional collaboration targeting transnational trafficking routes.
The government is also repositioning public intelligence as a force multiplier, urging citizens to support efforts to identify and disrupt illicit arms flows at the community level.
🏷️ Tags: NCCSLAW, Arms Proliferation, Nigeria Security, Weapons Destruction, Counterterrorism, ECOWAS
#Nigeria #Security #ArmsControl #Counterterrorism #Defence
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