The Northeast Zonal Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Major General Abubakar Adamu (retd.), has called on members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to play an active role in combating insecurity across Nigeria.
Speaking at the NYSC orientation camp in Bauchi on Tuesday, Adamu stressed that the involvement of young Nigerians, particularly corps members, in curbing the spread of small arms and light weapons could significantly reduce terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, cultism, and political thuggery nationwide.
Represented by the Assistant Director of Strategic Communication and Information at the NCCSALW Northeast Zonal Centre, Adamu Saleh, the zonal coordinator urged corps members to report any cases of illegal arms possession, fabrication, or distribution in their places of primary assignment.
“Without small arms and light weapons, there will be no banditry, violence, cultism, political thuggery, Boko Haram, ISWAP and others,” he said, emphasising that the proliferation of such weapons is a major driver of insecurity.
Adamu 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 the country. The centre also engages in advocacy and sensitisation efforts aimed at communities and stakeholders.
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He appealed to the Bauchi State NYSC Coordinator to collaborate with the centre in creating a Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) group, similar to the one already established in Borno State. According to him, the group would receive training and funding from the centre to train others and expand the campaign.
In response, the NYSC Coordinator in Bauchi, Umoren Kufre, expressed readiness to partner with the NCCSALW. “Now that the relationship between the centre and NYSC in the state has been established, we would work toward the creation of the CDS group in the state,” he assured.
The initiative is expected to strengthen grassroots efforts in tackling the circulation of illegal arms, with corps members serving as key advocates for peace and security.