Wed Sep 18 05:23:44 UTC 2024: ## Federal Government to Destroy Seized Arms and Ammunition by September

**Abuja, Nigeria** – The Nigerian government has announced plans to destroy all seized illicit arms and ammunition by the end of September. This includes both weapons confiscated from suspects and criminals, as well as obsolete and decommissioned weapons submitted by arms-bearing agencies.

The Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), DIG Johnson Kokumo (Rtd), made the announcement during a workshop on Tuesday. He revealed that the NCCSALW recently seized a significant amount of illegal weapons from the Nigeria Customs Service, leading to the arrest of 10 suspects who are currently facing prosecution.

In addition to these recent seizures, the NCCSALW has collected a total of 3,383 decommissioned, unserviceable, obsolete, and illicit small arms and light weapons, along with 26,749 various calibres of ammunition. These weapons will also be destroyed during the upcoming exercise.

The workshop focused on the importance of gender mainstreaming in preventing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria and West Africa. The representative of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, emphasized the significance of this issue to national security.

Ribadu highlighted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently signed a bill aimed at curbing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country. This legislation underscores the government’s commitment to addressing this critical issue.

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