The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday said government arms in the hands of terrorists were stolen when its formations were attacked.
The director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba stated this while briefing journalists on military operations across the country.
Buba was responding to questions on the allegations of soldiers and security agents selling arms and ammunition to terrorists.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, recently said a sizeable number of illicit arms being used to commit crimes in the country initially belonged to the government.
He explained that the weapons ended up in the hands of non-state actors due to corrupt elements within the security agencies.
However, General Buba said the arms ended up in the hands of terrorists when they attacked formations and carted them away.
He said, “Next, to your question about the proliferation of arms within our country, and the allegation that some of those arms are from security forces. When we talk about the proliferation of arms, first, you have to look at what happened in Libya years ago, in the Sahel.
“Now, this gave an opportunity for arms to get into the wrong hands and then filter into our country, which worsened the issue of insurgency and terrorism that we were faced with in the country. That is one.
Two are from the textbook. The textbook tells you that part of the ways insurgents and terrorists get arms is to attack security forces and take arms from them. This is textbook, meaning that it is proven all over the world. So, if it has happened here in Nigeria, it is not a surprise, as we have seen that several of our troops have been ambushed or killed and their arms taken. But what we have done is that in every such instance, we have made the terrorists pay a greater price than we have been forced to pay in such circumstances.”
