The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSLAW) has raised alarm over the diversion of officially procured weapons, warning that lapses in armoury management are fueling insecurity.
National Coordinator, DIG Johnson Kokumo (rtd), gave the warning in Abuja on Monday during the inauguration of a capacity development programme on Arms Physical Security and Stockpile Management for security agencies.
Kokumo said weak control systems, poor oversight and inadequate record-keeping had created dangerous vulnerabilities, allowing weapons to leak from official stockpiles into illicit circulation. He noted that assessments showed a significant proportion of illegal arms in use today may have originally come from government armouries.
“A significant portion of illegal arms in circulation today passed through official channels at some point,” he said, stressing that such leakages undermine counter-terrorism efforts and embolden criminal networks operating within and beyond Nigeria’s borders.
He emphasised the need for strict documentation, monitoring and secure storage of weapons in official custody, warning that failure to account for them effectively amounts to arming enemies of the state. According to him, strengthening stockpile management is critical to national security.
Kokumo added that NCCSLAW was working with both local and international partners to improve audit systems, enhance security of stockpiles and enforce compliance across agencies, with the goal of ensuring accountability and transparency in weapons management.
Also speaking, Operations Manager of Halo Trust, Jacob Nyaga, said the programme—funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands—would be implemented in three phases, covering practical armoury skills, leadership-level risk assessment and a train-the-trainer model to build sustainable institutional capacity.
