BETWEEN January and April 2024, the Nigerian military recovered 66,692 arms and ammunition in various operations against bandits and terrorist groups across the country.
The military noted that the firearms were recovered from terrorist groups, bandits, kidnappers, and ethnic or secessionist groups.
A breakdown of the figures showed that troops captured 3,117 dangerous arms and 63,575 ammunition.
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Section 428 of Nigeria’s Criminal Code Act prohibits the possession of firearms by any person who is not a member of a security agency.
Data analysed by The ICIR from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) revealed that 2,336 people were killed by various insecurity attacks across the country in the first quarter of 2024.
The data showed that states like Borno, Zamfara, Katsina and Benue recorded the highest number of deaths within the period.
Some of the arms recovered during this period included 1,619 AK-47 rifles, 24 automatic pump action guns, and 47 locally fabricated guns, among others.
Other were 36,007 rounds of 7.62mm special amm, 12,698 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 948 assorted arms and 5,520 assorted ammunition, 47 locally fabricated guns, 47 Dane guns, 24 automatic pump-action guns, eight locally fabricated pistols, two locally made single-barrel guns, one double-barrel gun, one hand grenade, and one IED.
There were also 1,686 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 116 rounds of 9mm ammo, 133 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ball ammo, 151 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 619 live cartridges, and 34 magazines, among others.
In February, The ICIR reported how Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani alleged that 80 per cent of the illegal firearms in West Africa were in Nigeria.
The governor stated that about 200 million out of 250 illegal firearms were illegally possessed within the country, further demanding that Nigeria’s gun laws be reviewed.
Meanwhile, in 2022, the SBM Intelligence report said that 6,154,000 firearms were in the possession of civilians in the country.
The firearms, according to the report, were put at 3.21 per 100 persons, while 224,200 and 362,400 firearms were in the possession of the military law and other law enforcement agencies, respectively.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale