The Federal Government has destroyed 1,419 illicit weapons and recovered 5,449 firearms through nationwide operations in 2026, the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, NCCSALW, has disclosed.
Director-General of NCCSALW, retired DIG Johnson Kokumo, announced the figures on Tuesday in Abuja during a Joint Security News Briefing involving defence, security and law-enforcement agencies.
Kokumo said the 1,419 weapons were destroyed publicly on July 30 during the Centre’s second-quarter arms destruction exercise in Abuja.
He noted that the latest exercise pushed the total number of illicit weapons destroyed by NCCSALW since 2022 above 19,000.
According to him, the destruction is intended to prevent recovered arms from falling into the hands of non-state actors and being used for terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
Kokumo said the Centre’s collaboration with security and law-enforcement agencies had also produced significant recoveries.
He disclosed that 5,050 illicit, unserviceable, decommissioned and obsolete automatic weapons were retrieved from the Nigeria Police Force in June.
The Nigeria Customs Service, he added, intercepted 399 JOJEF automatic guns and handed them over to NCCSALW on August 17.
Other weapons were also recovered from agencies including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the National Intelligence Agency.
The NCCSALW chief said the Centre was working with justice-sector institutions to prosecute individuals involved in arms trafficking, illegal importation and local manufacture.
He disclosed that 11 suspects had been arrested over the alleged illegal importation of 844 assorted automatic firearms and 112,500 rounds of ammunition.
The arms and ammunition were concealed inside a container intercepted by Customs at Onne Port before being handed over to NCCSALW.
Kokumo said the principal suspects remained in custody while investigations continued to track other suspects who were still at large.
The director-general also disclosed that suspects connected with illegal firearm and ammunition manufacturing in Minna, Niger State, had been arrested and prosecuted.
He said NCCSALW had conducted physical security and stockpile management training for personnel of arms-bearing security agencies between May 18 and June 19.
The training was designed to reduce the risk of legally held weapons being diverted into criminal circulation.
Beyond the recovery and destruction of illicit weapons, Kokumo said the Centre had begun preparations for a new national small arms survey.
The survey will replace the 2016 exercise, which he said no longer adequately reflected prevailing realities.
A baseline workshop was held on August 20 with representatives of United Nations agencies, the Small Arms Survey, security agencies and other relevant government institutions.
According to Kokumo, the new exercise will generate updated data to support Nigeria’s response to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
He also clarified the distinction between the Federal Government’s National Forest Guards initiative and the illegal Nigeria Forest Security Service.
Kokumo said the National Forest Guards initiative was being coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser, while key members of the illegal group, including its leader Joshua Osatimehin, had been arrested and were facing prosecution.
He added that a court had ordered the sealing of the group’s offices nationwide.
The NCCSALW boss reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to working with security agencies, international partners and other stakeholders to reduce the circulation of illicit weapons.
He urged Nigerians to support security efforts by providing accurate information and cooperating with relevant authorities.
Kokumo said the destruction of seized weapons was consistent with international arms-control conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.
