Tinubu Signs Bill Establishing National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons – Nuhu Ribadu

The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has announced that President Bola Tinubu has signed legislation establishing the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW). The initiative aims to curb the proliferation of small arms and light weapons across Nigeria and the West African region.

Ribadu made this known at a Workshop on Gender Mainstreaming in Arms Control, held on Tuesday in Abuja, which focused on preventing the spread of illicit weapons. Representing Ribadu at the event, Ambassador Ibrahim Babani, Director of External Affairs in the Office of the National Security Adviser, delivered the remarks.

He highlighted that the newly established Centre has already retrieved 3,383 decommissioned, unserviceable, obsolete, and illicit small arms and light weapons, alongside 26,749 rounds of various calibres of ammunition from government arms-bearing agencies.

Babani also announced that the NCCSALW is preparing to conduct an Arms Destruction Exercise later this quarter, a vital measure to ensure that recovered arms are permanently removed from circulation.