Military Denies Personnel Involvement In Arms Supply To Bandits, Terrorists

The Nigerian military has officially refuted allegations that its personnel are involved in facilitating the movement of arms and ammunition to terrorists, bandits, and other criminals across the country.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, addressed these concerns during a press briefing at Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

The clarification came in response to claims made by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who last week, during an event to destroy decommissioned and recovered illicit arms, accused some security personnel of aiding criminals by supplying them with guns.

Ribadu also expressed his disdain for the actions of some soldiers and policemen, accusing them of contributing to the national security crisis.

However, Buba emphasized that the weapons in possession of non-state actors are predominantly acquired through attacks on security formations where they cart away arms.

He strongly denied any facilitation of arms transfer by military personnel to unauthorized entities.

Furthermore, Buba highlighted the Libyan and Sahel crises as significant factors contributing to the proliferation of arms in the region.

He explained that the instability in these areas has led to a free flow of weapons into Nigeria, exacerbating the challenges of insurgency and terrorism within the country.

Buba said, “To your question about the proliferation of arms within our country, and the allegation that some of those arms are from security forces. This is what I can tell you about it.

“When we talk about proliferation of arms, first you have to look at what happened in Libya years ago and in the Sahel. Now, this gave the opportunity for arms to get into the wrong hands and then filtered into our country, which worsened the issue of insurgency and terrorism that we are faced with in the country. That is one.

“Two, is from the textbook. The textbook tells you that part of the ways insurgents and terrorists get arms is to attack security forces and take arms from them. This is a textbook, meaning that it is proven all over the world.

“So, if it has happened here in Nigeria, it is not a surprise, as we have seen that several of our troops have been ambushed or killed and their arms taken away.”

He, however, said the military has consistently responded to such incidents with decisive counter-measures.

“But what we have done is that in every such instance, we have made the terrorists pay a greater price than we have been forced to pay in such circumstances,” he added.