The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has uncovered an alleged diversion and illegal sale of service rifles by some of its personnel.
The NSCDC spokesperson, Babawale Afolabi, disclosed this on Friday while briefing journalists in Abuja, saying investigations had led to the arrest of a personnel allegedly involved in the illegal sale of a service weapon.
According to Afolabi, the investigation and arrest were carried out by the Commandant-General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS), headed by Commander Dandaura Appollos.
He said the unnamed officer allegedly removed an AK-47 rifle from his duty post after his shift instead of returning it to the armoury. The officer was said to have concealed the weapon in two polythene bags before abandoning his duty post without authorisation and transporting the rifle to Otukpo, Benue State.
“The investigation revealed that the officer subsequently delivered the rifle to someone in Otukpo under a prior arrangement for N700,000,” Afolabi said.
He added that the buyer allegedly resold the AK-47 to an illicit arms dealer identified as IBB for N800,000.
The spokesperson said the principal suspect later attempted to conceal the alleged offence when questioned about the missing rifle and reportedly tried to sign out another weapon. However, covert tracking, surveillance and tactical interrogation by the intelligence team led to the arrest of the suspects and recovery of the AK-47.
Afolabi also disclosed that the CG’s SIS uncovered the alleged systematic diversion of two G3 rifles from an NSCDC armoury between 2018 and 2024. The investigation reportedly implicated a personnel who served as head of the armoury at the NSCDC Adamawa State Command.
According to him, the senior officer allegedly removed the rifles from the armoury without authorisation and sold them to junior personnel in separate transactions for N210,000 and N220,000. The rifles were subsequently allegedly resold to a civilian.
“The investigation further revealed that the personnel allegedly resold the rifles to a civilian,” he said, adding that the officer allegedly falsified weekly armoury records to conceal the disappearance of the weapons during routine stocktaking.
Afolabi said the officer allegedly altered the armoury register after physical counting by his assistant, handwriting the serial numbers of the missing rifles into the records to create the impression that the weapons were still physically available.
He said the CG’s SIS investigation eventually exposed the alleged pattern of diversion and led to the recovery of confessional and other evidentiary statements from key actors. He described the development as part of the corps’ renewed efforts to strengthen armoury accountability and prevent service weapons from reaching criminals.
“Internal disciplinary procedures against errant officers have been concluded,” Afolabi said.
He added that the NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Audi, had directed the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) to immediately commence legal proceedings against all suspects across the four segments of the investigation in courts of competent jurisdiction.
In another development, Afolabi said the CG’s SIS had intercepted a telecommunications vandalism syndicate and arrested one of its members while allegedly attempting to cart away 12 telecommunications panels removed from an equipment cabinet.
He said investigations showed that the vandalism and theft, allegedly carried out for financial gain, had been ongoing for a long period.
“The NSCDC DLS is currently securing a 60-day remand order alongside search and arrest warrants to enable the CG’s SIS apprehend the fleeing syndicate members across Delta and Kano states,” he said.
