The National Defense Headquarters on Thursday explained how non-state actors are acquiring weapons.
The Libyan conflict and instability in the Sahel region have enabled arms to flow into Nigeria, exacerbating the country’s insurgency and terrorism crisis, according to the military’s high command.
Director of Defense Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, has responded to claims by National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu that a significant number of illegal weapons used to commit crimes in the country originally belonged to the government. made this clear.
Ribadu accused soldiers and police of selling weapons to criminal elements in the country.
However, while answering questions from journalists, Buba said that the availability of these weapons was mainly due to the Libyan and Sahel crises.
He said: “In response to your question regarding the proliferation of arms in our country and the allegation that some of those weapons are from the security forces. What I can say about it is this. When we talk about the proliferation of arms, first We have to look at what happened in Libya and the Sahel many years ago.
“This has given the opportunity for weapons to get into the wrong hands and into our country, exacerbating the insurgency and terrorism problems that our country faces. That’s one thing.
Buba also said that another way for terrorists to obtain weapons is to attack security services and take away rifles.
“No. 2 is in the textbook,” I said. Textbooks say that part of the way rebels and terrorists obtain weapons is by attacking security forces and disarming them. This means it’s textbook and proven all over the world. So it is not surprising if it happens here in Nigeria as we have seen some troops being ambushed, killed and disarmed. ”
However, Buba said the military has consistently responded to such incidents with decisive countermeasures.
“But what we have done is we have made the terrorists pay a higher price than we would have had to pay in that situation,” he said.
