Nigeria at Risk: 200 Million Illegal Arms Flood Nation – Defence Chief Sounds Alarm

Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has raised alarm over the unprecedented influx of illicit arms in West Africa, warning that approximately 40 percent of the estimated 500 million illegal small arms circulating in the sub-region are present within Nigeria’s borders.

According to iReporter Online, General Musa issued the warning while delivering a keynote address at the second edition of the Distinguished Personality Lecture, organized by the TETFund Centre of Excellence in Security Management, at the University of Ibadan in Oyo State.

Speaking on the topic “Global Fragility and Security Management in Nigeria,” the Defence Chief emphasized that the country’s internal security is increasingly threatened by broader global instability, calling for a reimagined national security strategy.

“Fragile states now pose a direct threat to both regional and global peace. Nigeria is not immune,” he cautioned, while highlighting the deepening connections between external crises and the rise in domestic terrorism, banditry, cyber threats, and environmental shocks.

Musa revealed that many of the arms currently destabilizing Nigeria were smuggled from conflict-ridden regions in the Sahel and North Africa. He attributed this surge to Nigeria’s porous borders and lapses in governance, especially in remote areas, noting that these factors have emboldened armed groups and ethnic militias operating across the country’s northern territories.

He also identified hybrid threats like disinformation and digital radicalisation as growing challenges, citing the exploitation of social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to spread hate speech, inflame ethnic tensions, and erode public trust.

The Defence Chief urged a multi-dimensional policy approach, as captured in Nigeria’s National Defence Policy, which includes: strengthening border security with modern surveillance tools, reinforcing inter-agency cooperation, collaborating with international partners to disrupt arms smuggling routes, and investing in youth empowerment and socio-economic development.

“Security today transcends traditional warfare. It involves sustainable development, responsive governance, and inclusive civic engagement,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of the occasion and former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd), represented by Lt. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun (retd), echoed the need for governance reforms and early-warning intelligence systems to detect threats before escalation.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, described the lecture as a necessary convergence of academic expertise and field experience. He said such forums foster data-driven solutions to the country’s most complex security issues.

Director of the TETFund Centre, Benjamin Aluko, praised General Musa for his insights, calling his presence a landmark moment for the centre and an opportunity to align academic research with Nigeria’s real-world security needs.