Nigerian youths serving under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have been tasked with leading efforts to combat the spread of illegal firearms and other light weapons that fuel insecurity in the country.
Speaking at the NYSC orientation camp in Bauchi, the Northeast Zonal Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Major General Abubakar Adamu (retd.), urged corps members to take up the responsibility of identifying and reporting activities involving illegal arms.
Represented by Assistant Director of Strategic Communication and Information, Adamu Saleh, the retired general stressed that the involvement of young Nigerians in this campaign is critical to dismantling the channels that sustain terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and other violent crimes.
He noted that the NCCSALW was established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser to provide a structured approach to arms control. “If you know anyone who is fabricating small arms and light weapons, please report such because I believe without this, there will be no banditry, violence, cultism, political thuggery, Boko Haram, ISWAP and others,” Abubakar declared.
He further recommended that the NYSC in Bauchi State form a Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) group to replicate the successful model in Borno State, where members receive training to train others.
NYSC Bauchi State Coordinator, Umoren Kufre, assured that steps would be taken to create such a group, now that collaboration with the centre has been established.
The initiative reflects a growing reliance on the youth population to act as watchdogs in their communities, signalling a new phase in Nigeria’s security response.