Follow Us on Google
•2 suspects in custody
From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has dismissed allegations linking the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to the illegal importation of 399 assorted automatic weapons intercepted at the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.
Director-General of the centre, Johnson Kokumo, who spoke yesterday at the joint security spokespersons’ briefing in Abuja, described as false and baseless claims circulating in a viral video that the suspects arrested in connection with the shipment were sponsored by Ribadu.
Kokumo said he was personally present at the Tin Can Island Port when the Nigeria Customs Service handed the seized weapons over to the NCCSALW. He disclosed that two suspects arrested in connection with the alleged illegal importation remained in custody, while investigations were ongoing to unravel those behind the shipment.
“The story in the video is not correct and cannot be correct. I was at the Tin Can Island Port with the Comptroller-General. Three hundred and ninety-nine assorted automatic weapons were intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service at the port. And this cache of arms, illegal weapons, was handed over to the centre. I was not there in a representative capacity; I was there personally. And the Comptroller-General, of course, was also present personally to do the handing over,” he said.
According to Kokumo, the seized weapons are being kept in a secured armoury while investigations continue into those behind the consignment.
“As I’m talking to you, the arms are in a secured armoury. Two suspects arrested in connection with the illegal importation are currently in custody.
“Investigation is ongoing with a view to bringing to book the criminal elements in Nigeria and possibly identifying their international criminal partners outside the shores of Nigeria,” he said.
Kokumo said the viral video contained unsubstantiated allegations and also called for violence against Ribadu and other individuals.
“So, what has gone viral in the video is not correct and cannot be correct,” he said.
The NCCSALW boss disclosed that more than 19,000 illicit weapons had been destroyed by the centre since 2022 as part of efforts to prevent recovered arms from getting back into the hands of criminal and non-state actors.
He said 1,419 illicit weapons were publicly destroyed during the centre’s Second Quarter Arms Destruction Exercise for 2026, held at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri, Abuja, on July 30.
Other News
According to him, the destruction of recovered weapons was in compliance with Nigeria’s obligations under relevant United Nations, African Union and ECOWAS conventions and protocols.
“Another reason for destroying them is to also ensure that the weapons so recovered do not find their way back into the hands of non-state actors for use on innocent citizens of Nigeria,” Kokumo said.
He said the Federal Government’s campaign against illicit weapons was aimed at curbing the availability of firearms to terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal groups.
Kokumo also disclosed that the centre received 5,050 illicit, unserviceable, decommissioned and obsolete assorted automatic weapons retrieved from the Nigeria Police Force in June 2026.
He added that the 399 automatic weapons intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service were handed over to the centre on August 17.
The Director-General, however, clarified that the government’s campaign against illicit weapons was not targeted at legitimate local artisanal arms producers, noting that some possessed skills that could be harnessed for national development.
“From time immemorial, in villages in Nigeria, we have traditional, well-aligned rites where people even fire for joy; they use Dane guns to do all this. We have local hunters who go into the bushes to hunt for rats and rabbits.
“All these guns, of course, are manufactured by local artisanal producers. But what we are seeing now is the introduction of sophisticated weapons,” he said.
Kokumo said the government’s concern was with criminal manufacturers producing sophisticated weapons for illicit purposes.
“So, we have those who are criminal manufacturers of these illicit weapons; we are really out for them,” he said.
He added that talented local manufacturers capable of putting their skills to legitimate use would be identified and considered for productive national service.
“We have equally identified talents among the local manufacturers. Those who are naturally talented, of course, will be absorbed into our plans, and we’ll see how they can be most efficiently and productively used in national service,” Kokumo said.
