Government has indicted more than 300 local and foreign companies and individuals, including senior military officers, over an arms scandal.

The Nigerian government has stepped up measures to uncover all fraudulent contracts and deals with regard to the supply of arms to the military and to severely punish the culprits.

At moment more than 300 local and foreign companies and individuals, including senior military officers are being investigated accused of defrauding the country of 241 million U.S. Dollars in fake contracts. The contracts were awarded by the office of the national security adviser from 2011 until 2015, BBC reported citing a statement from the Office of the President. The statement lists all the companies and individuals indicted including former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, who is facing separate fraud charges linked to the arms scandal. Mr Dasuki, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, has previously denied the allegations of corruption in relation to phantom contracts.

President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the probe into arms deal in 2015 and appointed a special investigation committee. The committee found that contracts were awarded "without any contractual agreement or evidence of jobs executed", the statement said. It gave an example of how one of the companies, Societe D'Equipement International, "was overpaid to the tune of 8.9 million U.S. Dollars and 7 million U.S. Dollars".

The investigation committee has given such a detailed report for the first time. BBC reports that the suspicious nature of some deals is the status of the companies involved as some of them were just set up for the purpose of the phantom contracts. The report further said that in situations where the contracts were executed, it is alleged that some officials who owned the firms through proxies helped them to avoid paying tax.

Simultaneously with the investigation, government has started applying draconian measures on those indicted. Apart from cash, the government says it has seized some properties belonging to some of the indicted individuals. Under the Goodluck Jonathan government, some soldiers complained that despite the military's huge budget, they were ill-equipped to fight Boko Haram.