The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) has urged members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the North-East to support efforts to curb the proliferation of illicit arms in the region.
The North-East Zonal Director of the NCCSALW, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (retd.), gave the charge while addressing corps members at the NYSC orientation camps in Potiskum, Yobe State, and Maiduguri, Borno State.
Adamu, represented by the centre’s Assistant Director, Strategic Communication and Information, Aminu Saleh Mohammed, said youth involvement would contribute significantly to tackling insecurity.
He explained that the NCCSALW, established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser, serves as the institutional framework for regulating and controlling small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.
Speaking during the sensitisation programme in Yobe, Adamu warned that the proliferation of illicit arms fuels banditry, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery, insurgency and other crimes.
“When you get to your places of primary assignment, be good ambassadors of your parents, NYSC, your state and yourself by reporting anyone in possession or involved in the fabrication of small arms and light weapons,” he said.
He also called on parents and guardians to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence among children, urging them to monitor behavioural changes and correct negative tendencies early.
In Maiduguri, the NCCSALW also called on religious leaders and scholars to sensitise their congregations on the dangers of illicit arms.
Represented by the centre’s Chief Programme Officer, Intelligence, Stephen Inau Mshelia, Adamu urged them to support reconciliation and the reintegration of extremists and victims.
Responding, NYSC coordinators in Yobe and Borno, Okochi Okpara and Nasir Bello, welcomed the proposal to establish Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service groups, pledging to work with the NCCSALW on sensitisation campaigns across the region.
NCCSALW tasks NYSC members with tackling arms proliferation in North-East