The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has accused some corrupt security agents of selling government-owned arms and ammunition to terrorists and criminal elements.
Ribadu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who is also a retired Assistant Inspecto General of Police (AIG) and first Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), specifically revealed that some soldiers and police officers are fueling insecurity in the country by selling arms and ammunition to terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja during the arms destruction exercise organised by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW). While performing the exercise at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri, Abuja, Ribadu said that illicit arms trade is a major contributor to the proliferation of weapons among these groups, saying that it is alarming to think that those entrusted with protecting the nation are the ones involved in such heinous activities.
He condemned security personnel who facilitate the movement of arms to terrorists and other non-state actors, maintaining that some illicit arms being used to commit crimes in the country originally belonged to the government.
The NSA said the destruction of the recovered and obsolete arms demonstrated Federal Government’s commitment to secure a future for all Nigerians.
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 an arm from his own formation and sell it or hide it out for the bad people to come and kill his own colleagues.
“We must fight these people, but also there are merchants of death and evil from outside the world.
“The proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons remains a major threat to our national security, exacerbating issues such as insurgency, banditry and other violent crimes”.
Johnson Kokomo, the Director-General of NCCSALW, said the proliferation of small arms poses a great challenge to the fight against insecurity in the country.
Kokomo, who said the exercise witnessed the destruction of over 2,400 illicit weapons, comprising a mix of unserviceable, decommissioned and recovered arms, declared: “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 and send a clear message that Nigeria will not tolerate the illegal trafficking and possession of small arms and light weapons,” he stated.
