Military Seizes Tens Of Thousands Of Illegal Guns Across Nigeria

• Troops recover over 66,000 arms and ammunition from non-state actors
• Weapons include AK-47 rifles, automatic guns, and locally fabricated firearms
• Experts call for stricter firearms regulations and border security to curb proliferation

Eko Hot Blog reports that troops across various theatres of operations in the country in separate operations have recovered a total of 66,692 arms and ammunition from non-state actors.

A breakdown of the figures revealed that a total of 3,117 dangerous arms and 63,575 ammunition were captured by troops.

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Some of the non-state actors the arms and ammunition were recovered from are terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and Indigenous People of Biafra combatants among others. The figures are based on the reported recoveries made by troops during their operations in various theatres between January and April 2024.

The recovered arms included 1,619 AK-47 rifles, 24 Automatic Pump Action guns, and 47 locally fabricated guns among others. The ammunition recovered ranged from 36,007 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition to 12,698 rounds of 7.62mm NATO.

Experts have attributed the proliferation of arms and ammunition in Nigeria to the increasing rates of crime across the country. They have suggested a serious mop-up of the weapons in circulation, the enhancement of security at the country’s porous borders, and stricter regulations on firearms to address this issue.

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According to a 2023 report by SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused market/security intel gathering and strategic consulting firm, an estimated 6.1 million small arms are in the possession of non-state actors in Nigeria.

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