The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has issued a sharp rebuke against policemen and soldiers who steal and sell arms from their formations to criminal elements. Ribadu expressed his concerns during an arms destruction event held by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Abuja on Friday.
Ribadu described security agents engaged in such illegal activities as “worse human beings,” stressing the need for immediate action to prevent further harm. “We have to find a way of putting a stop to this if we want to recover our country and live in peace and stability,” he remarked.
He condemned those who supply weapons to criminals, particularly terrorists and bandits, adding that many of the illegal arms being used in Nigeria’s ongoing security crises originally belonged to the government. “The worst human being is a policeman or a soldier who will take arms from his own formations and sell them or hide them out for the bad people to come and kill his own colleagues,” Ribadu said.
The NSA also cursed the security personnel who aid in the movement of weapons to non-state actors, underscoring the gravity of their betrayal.
Nigeria continues to face multiple security challenges, including a 15-year insurgency by Boko Haram in the North-East, which has claimed over 40,000 lives. The country’s central and North-Western regions are also besieged by criminal gangs known as bandits, who engage in violent raids, kidnappings, and destruction of villages. Concerns have grown over the increasing collaboration between these bandits and jihadist groups, particularly in central Niger State.
