‘Over 5m illegal firearms circulating in Southwest’

The Southwest Zonal Director of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Abiodun Alamutu, has raised concerns that over five million illegal firearms may be in circulation across the region, describing the proliferation of small arms as a major driver of insecurity in Nigeria. Alamutu, a retired Commissioner of […]

The Southwest Zonal Director of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Abiodun Alamutu, has raised concerns that over five million illegal firearms may be in circulation across the region, describing the proliferation of small arms as a major driver of insecurity in Nigeria.

Alamutu, a retired Commissioner of Police, spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday during a one-day seminar organised by the agency on effective post-judgment management of small arms and light weapons.

He said, “The major enabler of insecurity, banditry, terrorism in the country is the proliferation of small arms and light weapons… a large chunk of these arms are in the hands of non-state actors.”

According to him, while significant progress has been made in intercepting weapons at Nigeria’s borders, authorities are now shifting focus to retrieving arms already in circulation.

“The bulk of the successes we have recorded has been at the border points… But now, we want to divert our attention into mopping up those that are already in circulation,” he said.

Alamutu emphasized the need for collaboration with local stakeholders, including traditional rulers, community leaders, and civil society groups, to encourage voluntary surrender of weapons.

The NCCSALW director noted that more than five million illegal firearms are in circulation in the region.

“Some claim the estimate is up to five million, but we cannot say categorically… but from records available, it falls within or quite above five million,”he said.

On policy, Alamutu explained that Nigeria is bound by international conventions requiring the destruction of seized illicit arms.

“The legal framework directs that such illicit arms must be destroyed… Nigeria on its own cannot now say… we should do otherwise without going back to the law,” he stated.

He also pointed to porous borders as a major challenge, despite what he described as existing political will.

“We have the political will… but the challenge… remains the porosity of our borders,” he said, adding that technology would be key to improving border security.

Alamutu disclosed that authorities continue to record seizures, noting that 43,000 live cartridges recently intercepted by customs would be collected.

Also speaking, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Bode Ojajuni, stressed the need for better coordination in handling recovered weapons.

He said, “We have many of these arms that have been recovered… and they are in the police armories. I feel that the center should devise another avenue to mop up these weapons immediately.”

Ojajuni warned against delays in transferring recovered arms, noting potential risks.

“We are all aware that anything at times will happen to these weapons when there is too much delay,” he said.

He called for a structured system across states to ensure timely collection and transfer of seized arms to the NCCSALW.

“If we can… have a unit that will coordinate the mopping up of these arms… and hand over to the center… that will create the window where we work together,” he added.

Delivering the lecture, the Head of Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Dr Kunle Olawunmi, urged security agencies to stop destroying seized arms from criminals but rather make use it in fighting against bandits or sell them to other countries.

He also recommended that
within six months, NCCSALW, the judiciary, the police, and the Federal Ministry of Justice should adopt a national post-judgment SALW management protocol with defined roles, timelines, and documentation templates.

“Effective post-judgment management of small arms and light weapons is where law, administration, and national security meet.

“Nigeria already possesses the beginnings of an appropriate architecture.

“The urgent task now is to make that architecture operational, disciplined, and verifiable. Once adjudicated weapons are securely tracked from court order to lawful final disposition, the state closes one important route through which insecurity reproduces itself,” Olawunmi said.