The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has rejected claims linking National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to the importation of 399 illegal firearms intercepted at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos.
The Director-General of the centre, retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police Johnson Kokumo, described the allegation as false and insisted that the security agencies followed due process in handling the seized weapons.
Kokumo spoke on Tuesday in Abuja during a joint security spokespersons’ briefing. He said the allegation was contained in a viral video circulating online.
According to him, the claim that the suspects arrested over the arms shipment were sponsored by Ribadu had no basis.
He said he personally witnessed the handover of the seized weapons after the Nigeria Customs Service intercepted the consignment at the port.
“The story in the video is not correct and cannot be correct.
“I was at the Tin Can Island Port with the Comptroller-General. Three hundred and ninety-nine assorted automatic weapons were intercepted by the Nigerian Customs Service at the port. This cache of arms, illegal weapons, was handed over to the centre.
“I was not there in a representative capacity; I was there personally. And the Comptroller-General, of course, was also present personally to do the handing over,” he said.
Kokumo said the weapons are now being kept in a secured armoury under the custody of the NCCSALW.
He also confirmed that two suspects connected to the shipment remain in custody as investigations continue.
“As I’m talking to you, the arms are in a secured armoury. Two suspects arrested in connection with the illegal importation are currently in custody.
“Investigation is ongoing with a view to bringing to book the criminal elements in Nigeria and possibly identifying their international criminal partners outside the shores of Nigeria,” Kokumo added.
The NCCSALW boss said investigators would continue to establish the full network behind the attempted importation.
He explained that the investigation was not limited to the individuals arrested in Nigeria.
Authorities are also working to determine whether foreign criminal networks were involved in the shipment.Nigerian political landscape
The development comes about two weeks after the Nigeria Customs Service formally handed over the 399 firearms and other firearm components to the NCCSALW.
The seizure was made at the Tin Can Island Port after Customs officers subjected the consignment to further examination. The shipment had arrived in Nigeria aboard MV Velika on July 8, 2026.
Customs had earlier disclosed that the firearms were concealed in dismantled form. After examination and coupling, officers recovered 399 fully assembled JOJEF pump-action rifles along with hundreds of firearm components.
Two persons were arrested in connection with the shipment.
Kokumo said the viral video did not only make what he described as false claims about the arms seizure but also contained a call for violence against Ribadu and other individuals.
“So, what has gone viral in the video is not correct and cannot be correct,” he stated.
He urged Nigerians to disregard the allegation and allow security agencies to complete their investigation into the seized weapons.
Beyond the Tin Can Island seizure, Kokumo also provided an update on the Federal Government’s wider efforts to remove illegal firearms from circulation.
He said the NCCSALW had continued to destroy recovered illicit weapons after they were properly documented and processed.
According to him, the destruction is intended to prevent recovered firearms from being diverted and returned to criminal groups.
“And of course, another reason for destroying them is to also ensure that the weapons so recovered do not find their way back into the hands of non-state actors for use on innocent citizens of Nigeria,” he said.
Kokumo disclosed that the centre conducted its Second Quarter Arms Destruction Exercise for 2026 on July 30 at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment in Giri, Abuja.
A total of 1,419 illicit weapons were publicly destroyed during the exercise.
The latest exercise pushed the number of illicit weapons destroyed by the centre since 2022 to more than 19,000.
The weapons recovered by security agencies are part of the government’s broader campaign against the proliferation of firearms used in terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes.
Bandits Carrying Illegal Firearms
Bandits Carrying Illegal Firearms
Kokumo further disclosed that the centre received 5,050 illicit, unserviceable, decommissioned and obsolete automatic weapons from the Nigeria Police Force in June 2026.Nigerian political landscape
He added that the 399 firearms intercepted by Customs at Tin Can Island were transferred to the centre on August 17.
The handover followed the completion of Customs’ examination and documentation of the consignment.
Kokumo also used the briefing to clarify that the government’s campaign against illegal firearms should not be interpreted as an attack on legitimate local manufacturers.
He said some Nigerians have traditional skills in the production of locally made firearms, particularly guns used by hunters in rural communities.
“From time immemorial, in villages in Nigeria, we have traditional, well-aligned rights where people even fire for joy; they use Dane guns to do all this. We have local hunters who go into the bushes to hunt for rats and rabbits.
“All these guns, of course, are manufactured by local artisanal producers. But what we are seeing now is the introduction of sophisticated weapons,” he said.
The NCCSALW director-general said the major concern was the emergence of criminal manufacturers producing sophisticated weapons for illegal purposes.
He said security agencies were targeting such individuals and networks rather than legitimate artisans whose skills could potentially be useful to the country.
Kokumo said some of the skills found among local manufacturers could instead be developed and redirected towards productive activities.
“And we have equally identified talents among the local manufacturers—the talents, those who are naturally talented, of course, will be absorbed into our plans, and we’ll see how they can be most efficiently and productively used in national service,” Kokumo stated.
The NCCSALW has continued to work with security agencies to recover illicit firearms and prevent their circulation.