BY UTHMAN BABA-NASEER,MINNA<\/p>\n
The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has called for stronger collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Army to tackle the proliferation of illegal arms and light weapons in the country.
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\nThe North Central Zonal Director of the Centre, Abdul Adamu Eneche, made the call during separate sensitisation and courtesy visits to the Acting Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service, Habib Aminu Hassan, and the Commander of the Guards Brigade, Brigadier General OA Onasanya, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).<\/p>\n
Eneche said the visits were aimed at strengthening cooperation, intelligence sharing and partnership with security agencies in the fight against the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons.<\/p>\n
He described the Nigeria Customs Service and the Guards Brigade as strategic partners in addressing the security challenge, commending Customs for its sustained efforts in intercepting illegal arms and preventing them from reaching criminal elements.<\/p>\n
The Zonal Director explained that the Centre was established in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari and received legal backing in 2024 following the signing of the NCCSALW Act by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.<\/p>\n
He said the Centre operates under the Office of the National Security Adviser, with the mandate to curb the proliferation of illicit weapons, which contribute to banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, communal clashes and other violent crimes.<\/p>\n
Eneche expressed concern over the illegal movement of weapons into the country through land and maritime borders, particularly unmanned routes and illegal jetties. He also identified local fabrication of weapons and alleged compromise by some security personnel as factors contributing to the circulation of illicit arms.<\/p>\n
Responding, the Acting Comptroller of Customs, Habib Aminu Hassan, assured the Centre of the Service’s readiness to strengthen collaboration in tackling the menace.<\/p>\n
He explained that Customs plays a critical role in preventing the entry of illegal arms, ammunition and other prohibited items through the nation’s borders, seaports, airports and other entry points.<\/p>\n
Hassan added that the Service deploys intelligence-led operations, seizures and enforcement measures to disrupt the activities of smugglers and criminal networks, thereby supporting national security.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Commander of the Guards Brigade, Brigadier General Olusegun Adebisi Onasanya, commended the Centre for extending its operations across the country through the establishment of zonal offices.<\/p>\n
He observed that Nigeria’s proximity to countries experiencing armed conflicts and insurgency posed a serious threat of illegal weapons entering the country.<\/p>\n
The Brigade Commander pledged the support of the Guards Brigade, particularly in areas of collaboration and intelligence sharing, to strengthen efforts towards controlling small arms and light weapons.<\/p>\n
The Zonal Director also conveyed the goodwill of the Director-General of the Centre, DIG Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, to the two security agencies.<\/p>\n
The visits featured the presentation of souvenirs, an information brief, and programmes for the quarterly submission of reports on recovered arms, as well as group photographs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY UTHMAN BABA-NASEER,MINNA The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has called for stronger collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Army to tackle the proliferation of illegal arms and light weapons in the country. The North Central Zonal Director of the Centre, Abdul Adamu Eneche, made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19853"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19858,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19853\/revisions\/19858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}