The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has uncovered the alleged diversion and illegal sale of service rifles by some personnel, leading to the recovery of an AK-47 and two G3 rifles.

The NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Afolabi, said an unnamed personnel allegedly removed an AK-47 rifle from his duty post after his shift instead of returning it to the armoury.

He said investigations revealed that the personnel concealed the rifle in two polythene bags, abandoned his duty post without authorisation and transported the weapon 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,” he said.

According to him, the buyer allegedly resold the AK-47 to an illicit arms dealer identified as IBB for N800,000.

Afolabi said the principal suspect attempted to conceal the offence when questioned about the missing weapon and allegedly tried to sign out another rifle.

“Through covert tracking, surveillance and tactical interrogation, the intelligence team apprehended the principal suspects and recovered the AK-47 rifle,” he said.

In a separate operation, Afolabi said the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad, CG’s SIS, uncovered the alleged systematic diversion of two G3 rifles from an NSCDC armoury between 2018 and 2024.

He said the investigation involved a senior personnel who allegedly committed the offence while serving as head of the armoury at the NSCDC Adamawa State Command.

According to him, the officer allegedly removed the rifles from the store without authorisation and sold them to junior personnel in separate transactions for N210,000 and N220,000 respectively.

“The investigation further revealed that the personnel allegedly resold the rifles to a civilian,” he said.

Afolabi said the senior officer allegedly falsified weekly armoury records to conceal the disappearance of the firearms during routine stocktaking.

“After physical counting of available weapons by his assistant, he allegedly altered the register by handwriting the serial numbers of the missing rifles into the stock records.

“The manipulation allegedly created the impression that the firearms remained physically present in the armoury,” he said.

He said the CG’s SIS investigation exposed the alleged pattern and led to the recovery of confessional and other evidentiary statements from key actors.

Afolabi said the intelligence breakthrough underscored the corps’ renewed efforts to strengthen armoury accountability and prevent the diversion of service weapons into the hands of criminals.

“Internal disciplinary procedures against errant officers have been concluded.

“The NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Audi, has directed the Directorate of Legal Services, DLS, to immediately institute legal proceedings against all suspects across these four segments in courts of competent jurisdiction,” he said.

In another development, Afolabi said the intelligence squad intercepted a telecommunications vandalism syndicate.

He said one of the suspects was arrested while allegedly attempting to cart away 12 telecommunications panels vandalised from an equipment cabinet.

According to him, investigations following the arrest revealed that the vandalism and theft, allegedly carried out for financial gain, had been ongoing for a long time.

“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.