Chioma Igbokwe
Suspected illegal arms dealers, who were recently arrested by operatives of Inspector General of Police, Intelligence Response Team (IRT), have denied selling arms to suspected bandits wreaking havoc in the northern parts of the country. They however added that their customers are Nigerians they refer to as being credible.
The suspects identified as Ojoomo Olugbenga, Oladimeji Adeogun, Habib Musibau and Thomas Olumuyiwa were part of a four man international arms smuggling syndicate and they were arrested on May 25, 2019 at Saki town along Nigeria-Benin Republic border in Oyo State.
According to the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mbah, who paraded them before the media, the success of the operation was as a result of unrelenting efforts by IRT operatives headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari who are also part of the Special Forces attached to Operation Puff Adder.
The Inspector –General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in April, launched Operation Puff Adder along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, tailored towards ridding the country, especially the Kaduna – Abuja Expressway, Kogi, Katsina, Niger and Zamfara States of all forms of crimes and criminality.
He stated that the criminal gang which is alleged to be operating between parts of North Africa, the Sahel region and West African Countries were found with four AK47 rifles, five English pistol and a total of 6000 AK47 live ammunition were recovered from them. Investigation reveals that the syndicate specializes in smuggling small arms, light weapons and ammunition from North Africa through the Sahel region and supplying same to their criminal partners – kidnappers, armed robbers, political thugs and other elements – in Nigeria and other West African countries.
During interrogation at the police station, the suspects confessed that their overall boss is one Outtara Zachariah who is a citizen of and based in Burkina Faso. They alleged that they receive the weapons from Libya and Mali while Zachariah can only be reached through his Nigerian agent simply identified as Soliu. Soliu is a Nigerian but was born and raised in Burkina Faso.
They further alleged that the rifles were usually smuggled into the country by concealing them inside sacks of dried animal skin which is usually imported from Burkina Faso. They claim they also hide the rifles inside yam flour and bags of rice from Benin Republic before transporting them into Nigeria using trucks. They claim to have smuggled thousands of rifles through Niger Republic through borders along Niger, Sokoto and Kastina states.
They also alleged that AK47 rifles and ammunition meant for the eastern part of the country are concealed in large bundles of imported fairly used clothes and transported to Onitsha main market where most of their dealers are based.
Robbers, bandits cannot afford our rifles
One of the suspects, Olugbenga aged 45 insists that he has never sold any weapon to suspected kidnappers from the north. “I am from Akure Central, Ondo state and happily married to one wife and blessed with seven children.
Sometime in 1994, I secured a job in a licensed arms dealer company. I was good at the job till I became the marketing manager. Unfortunately the company closed down after the death of Sani Abacha, the late military ruler. After his death, all the companies that were importing arms in Nigeria lost their license. Naturally, all the companies closed down and those who were still around were doing so illegally.
“I relocated to Oyo state and with the little money I made; I was able to further my education at the Ibadan Polytechnic.
While in school, I linked up with some of my customers who were still buying and selling arms and they told me that I can join them as they now have a direct source from importers abroad.
“This was how I established my base in Ogunpa market in Ibadan, Oyo state. I was buying on whole sale basis from the importers who travel out of the country to source for the weapons. It’s a coded thing because government will deny you if they catch you.
“We operate it as black market all over the country. If you come to that market and ask, someone will surely link you up with us. We have an association and we keep in touch with one another. Our major base is Lagos, Ibadan and Onitsha. If you go to Onitsha main market, you will also find so many dealers there. It is only Lagos that we don’t have a particular location because there are too many policemen and security agencies who are always looking for who to arrest. If you come to Ibadan or Onitsha and ask for a Lagos contact, it will be given. Most of the people in Lagos are retailers. I do not know anything about the north and where they get their supply. If kidnappers are getting weapons, it could be from the local retailers.”
On who their customers are, Olugbenga said that they are high profile Nigerians especially politicians. “Some of my customers are security men especially policemen. They always refer those who applied for arms to me. Those who were given license to bear arms. I guess they will stop since President Buhari has said that no one is allowed to bear arms again in Nigeria. There are also farmers who patronize us but majority of our customers are politicians. During election period, there is always high demand for it and since they already know our contact, they will contact us and we will supply.
“We love selling to politicians especially those that will eventually win the election. This is important because they will be the ones who will eventually protect us in-case of arrest. I do not sell to armed robbers or Fulani herdsmen. I have never done business with those criminals in my life. The truth is that they cannot afford to buy from us. I guess they normally steal from those who bought from us or rented it, except high profile kidnappers who will disguise as a responsible person. The Fulani herdsmen can move in and out of these countries with their cattle. They can buy and smuggle their own weapon themselves. They don’t need to waste money buying AK47 at the sum of N700,000.”
According to Olugbenga, a new pump action rifle is sold for N500, 000 and AK47 is sold at N700, 000 while the pistol is sold as high as N600, 000. “It is expensive, that is why I said that armed robbers cannot spend that amount of money to buy weapon.”
He alleged that most of the pump action rifles are gotten from Turkey while the AK47 rifles are from Burkina Faso. “Our major dealer is based in Burkina Faso but he has an agent that we all know as Soliu. In this line of job, we do not ask for individual details because it’s a sensitive business. Soliu has the contact of the main persons in these countries, our own is to order and he will deliver. The cartridges and double barrel guns are from Ghana and we get them in large quantity easily.
“Normally, the ones from Ghana, they will construct a compartment on the floor of the truck and load it with plenty arms and ammunitions. They will seal it up before loading whatever the people at the border are expected to inspect.
From Burkina Faso, they hide it inside a load of dried animal skin. Nigeria normally imports a lot of it from Burkina Faso, so our suppliers normally move goods to us by hiding them in the sack full of dried animal skin. They normally bring that one through Kwara/Oyo border that links Benin Republic. The others will pack them in container load of contraband products like rice and groundnut oil. Normally the customs and other patrol agencies will concentrate on collecting settlement to allow the rice, groundnut oil or fairly used cloths to enter the country.
“Meanwhile, we also ensure that we partner with security agencies to fight crime. This makes it easier to stop them from scanning the entire container. I am sorry and I wish I had stopped a long time ago. It’s just greed and the amount of money that politicians offer us to get these weapons is so tempting. Please forgive me,” he pleaded.
My customers are credible Nigerians
The second suspect Olumuyiwa, a native of Ado-Odo, Ota, in Ogun state told Saturday Sun that his customers are credible Nigerians. “I started this business 15 years ago. I started by working as a contract staff with one registered firearm company in Lagos. When all the licenses were revoked, we all lost our jobs but some of us who have the capacity continued operating. I can assure you that all my customers in Nigeria are respected and responsible Nigerians. This country is not safe, so these people need these guns to protect themselves and their families.”
He however refused to give out their names insisting that part of his job is to protect the identity of his customers. “They do not have license but they are responsible. If I give you their names, they will no longer patronize me in future. I do not joke with my customers because they will surely save me in times like this. I sell rifles like pump action for as low as N300, 000 and pistol for N600, 000. They can get it cheaper if it’s not brand new. It was the AK47 that I bought from a retired military man that landed me in trouble. I bought it N350, 000 and sold it N400, 000. Unfortunately, the gun entered the wrong hand it was traced to me.”
Just like the retired solider, Olumuyiwa alleged that he normally receives arms from retired security operatives at a very cheap rate but patronises the likes of Olugbenga when there is high demand. “It is only during election period that we have high demand for these weapons and I have to contact the dealers for a larger quantity. I also keep tab on credible security operatives who have retired and have rifles that they want to dispose.”