Against the backdrop of insecurity plaguing the nation, South-West Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Sola Ben Akinlade, yesterday, in Ibadan, disclosed that no fewer than 14,000 illicit weapons had been handed over to the Centre by the Nigerian Army (NA) and Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
He said that the illicit weapons were recovered from clearance operations across the nation as part of the efforts to rid society of dangerous weapons in possession of criminal elements.
Akinlade, a retired Director of the State Security Service (SSS) in charge of Internal Security, who spoke during an interactive session with journalists, maintained that no effort would be spared by the Centre in mopping up weapons already in the hands of hoodlums causing security breaches in Nigeria.
According to him, the said weapons were those compiled from various state commands after completion of their court cases. He disclosed that efforts were underway to receive recovered weapons from the Nigerian Air Force and others.
The NCCSALW boss noted that the increased collaboration between relevant stakeholders in the war against proliferation of small arms and light weapons would assist in stemming the spate of violent crimes in the South-West zone, especially the recent kidnapping and killing of traditional rulers.
Akinlade said that the Centre was also profiling all blacksmiths who engage in the fabrication of illicit weapons with the intention to persuade them to desist from the criminal activities.
He observed that the locally-fabricated weapons were believed to be more easily acquired than the imported ones, which are often costly and could not easily be procured by the criminals.
