Military Recovers 66,692 Firearms From Criminals.

Troops across various theatres of operations in the country in separate operations said, they have recovered a total of 66,692 arms and ammunition from non-state actors.

A breakdown of the figures said, a total of 3,117 dangerous arms and 63,575 ammunition were captured by troops, while, the non-state actors the arms and ammunition recovered from are terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and Indigenous People of Biafra combatants among others.

The figures are based on the reported recoveries made by troops during their operations in various theatres between January and April 2024, while, the arms recovered during this period included 1,619 AK-47 rifles, 24 Automatic Pump Action guns, and 47 locally fabricated guns among others.

The proliferation of arms and ammunition in the country has been attributed to the alarming increasing crime rates, while, Non-state actors such as terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal elements have easily carried out their deadly operations as a result of easy access to dangerous weapons, and experts have suggested a serious mop-up of the weapons in circulation in the country, especially, the enchantment of security at our porous borders, and stricter regulations on firearms among others.

According to a 2023 report by SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused market, as well as security intel gathering and strategic consulting firm, an estimated 6.1 million small arms are in the possession of non-state actors.