Ordinarily, the arrest of a suspected supplier of arms to bandits in Niger State following a tipoff should be cheering news. But it raised more questions than answers.
The posers include: Who supplies the supplier with arms? How do arms enter the country illegally? What are the security agencies doing to prevent arms from getting into the wrong hands?
The suspect, Umar Shehu, 31, was reported saying he got the arms from one Abdulmani in Taraba State, who was killed by a security squad in Kaduna this year. He also said he had supplied arms and ammunition to bandits in Madaki forest, Katsina State, and in Maidaro forest, Kaduna State, as well as to a terrorist in the Kwamba-Maje area of Suleja, Niger State. For every 500 rounds of ammunition delivered to bandits, he was paid N100,000, he said, on September 6, at police headquarters, Minna, Niger State.
Two days later, the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Musa Danmadami, also supplied information on the arrest of some alleged arms dealers linked with terrorists while briefing journalists about the activities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria from August 25 to September 8, 2022.
He said troops arrested a suspected foreign arms dealer and “logistics supplier” to Boko Haram/Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), named Mallam Abatcha Bukar, an alleged Boko Haram informant named Mamuda Usman (aka Bado) in Asokoro, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and another suspected arms dealer named Hamza Dogo in Zamfara. He added that Dogo was caught with two AK47 rifles, eight magazines, and 200 rounds of 7.62mm.
These arrests are commendable. But this is not the first time such arrests have been made in response to increasing insecurity in the country; and previous reported arrests of this kind have not de-escalated insecurity.
So, it is not enough for security agencies to announce the arrest of suspected suppliers of arms to bandits and terrorists. Such arrests should lead to prosecution of the suspects, and also be a means of gathering intelligence that would advance the country’s fight against banditry and terrorism.
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Last year, for instance, there were some striking reports of arrests of suspected suppliers of weapons to bandits. They included a then 60-year-old man, Umar Muhammed, whom the police said used his vehicle to transport hidden guns from one place to another. He was caught with weapons.
In another case, policemen on patrol stopped four men suspected to be bandits on motorbikes on Tsaskiya-Ummadau Road, Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State. The police found N3.4m, and their leader was said to have revealed that they were gun suppliers and had received the money from a notorious bandit, Tukur Rabiu, for six AK-47 rifles delivered to him. He said he got N100, 000 as commission for each weapon he supplied. The police said the suspect also confessed to being a gunrunner for one Abu Rade, another notorious bandit.
Also, members of a group that allegedly supplied drugs, bread and other food items to bandits operating in Zaria, Kaduna State and its environs were arrested.
Even, in one attention-grabbing case, a housewife identified as Maryam Abubakar in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State was arrested for allegedly supplying women, including her daughters and nieces, to bandits in Galadimawa forest to satisfy their sexual needs.
Lamentably, these arrests led nowhere. The same thing may well happen regarding the recent one involving the alleged arms supplier in Niger State. These suppliers help bandits and terrorists to sustain their criminal activities. Not surprisingly, the police had accused the arrested suppliers of criminal conspiracy.
The fight against banditry and terrorism should be not only against bandits and terrorists but also those who aid them. This includes their financiers too. The case of the 400 alleged Boko Haram financiers who were reported to have been arrested in April 2021 remains a puzzle as they have not been tried more than a year after.
Failure to prosecute and punish arrested insecurity enablers cannot encourage public confidence in the fight against banditry and terrorism. Ironically, it even suggests that the authorities are enabling insecurity.