By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has committed to a robust partnership with the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) to educate and sensitize communities on the dangers of illegal possession and use of small arms and light weapons.
This collaboration aims to foster peace and stability across Nigeria and its neighboring regions.
During an advocacy visit on Wednesday, Group Captain K.O. Nwachukwu, Commandant of the 105 Composite Group, NAF Air Force Base, Maiduguri, warmly received Major General Abubakar Adamu (rtd), North East Zonal Director of NCCSALW.
Group Captain Nwachukwu pledged the NAF’s full support for advocacy and sensitization campaigns targeting border communities and neighboring countries, including Chad and Cameroon.
The initiative will focus on educating Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and local communities about the risks associated with illegal arms possession.
Expressing gratitude for the visit, Nwachukwu highlighted his prior participation in a capacity-building workshop organized by NCCSALW, which focused on community sensitization against illegal arms.
He reaffirmed the NAF’s readiness to collaborate with the Centre to eliminate the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, emphasizing that all weapons recovered during counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram will be handed over to NCCSALW for destruction.
Major General Adamu, in his remarks, explained that the NCCSALW, established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), serves as Nigeria’s institutional framework for regulating and controlling small arms and light weapons.
The Centre’s mission is to curb the proliferation of illicit arms, which fuels insurgency and violent extremism, particularly in the North East.
Adamu stressed the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, involving Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), to implement national, ECOWAS, and UN action plans on arms control.
The NCCSALW’s objectives include institutionalizing arms control at all levels, mainstreaming eradication efforts in national discourse, and ensuring compliance with ECOWAS and UN conventions.
With core values of accountability, fairness, integrity, and transparency, the Centre seeks to promote a whole-of-nation approach to eradicating illicit arms and fostering lasting peace.
