The Director-General of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), DIG Johnson Kokumo (rtd.), has debunked a viral video claiming that suspects arrested over illegal arms importation at the Tin Can Island Port were sponsored by National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, Kokumo said he was personally present when the Nigerian Customs Service handed over 399 assorted automatic weapons intercepted at the port to the centre, and dismissed the allegations against Ribadu as false.
“I was at the Tin Can Island Port with the Comptroller-General of Customs. Three hundred and ninety-nine assorted automatic weapons were intercepted by the Nigerian Customs Service at the port, and this cache of illegal weapons was handed over to the centre,” he said.
“I was not there in a representative capacity; I was there personally. And the Comptroller-General was also present personally to do the handing over.”
Kokumo said the weapons are currently secured in an armoury, while two suspects arrested in connection with the importation remain in custody as investigations continue, with the aim of identifying any international criminal networks involved.
He described the claims in the viral video as baseless and said the clip also incited violence against Ribadu and other individuals.
“What has gone viral in the video is not correct and cannot be correct,” he stated.
The NCCSALW boss added that the Federal Government will continue destroying recovered illicit weapons to keep them from being diverted to criminal and non-state actors, in line with international conventions under the UN, African Union and ECOWAS.
He disclosed that the centre’s Second Quarter Arms Destruction Exercise, held on July 30 at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment in Giri, Abuja, saw 1,419 illicit weapons publicly destroyed — bringing the total destroyed since 2022 to over 19,000.
According to Kokumo, the exercise is part of a broader Federal Government effort to curb the possession and use of illicit weapons by groups involved in terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes.
He further revealed that the centre received 5,050 illicit, unserviceable and obsolete weapons retrieved from the Nigeria Police Force in June, along with 399 JOJEF automatic guns intercepted by Customs and handed over on August 17, 2026.
Kokumo clarified that the government is not targeting legitimate local arms manufacturers, noting that some artisanal producers — including traditional gunsmiths who make Dane guns used by hunters and for ceremonial purposes — possess skills that could be redirected toward national development.
“What we see now is the introduction of sophisticated weapons,” he said, adding that the concern is with criminal manufacturers producing such arms.
He said the government has identified talented local manufacturers whose skills will be “absorbed into our plans” and channelled into productive, nationally beneficial use.
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