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Tag: AK-47 rifles

  • Police recover 13 AK-47 rifles, others in Kebbi

    The police in Kebbi State have recovered 13 AK-47 rifles, machine gun, 650 live ammunition and 32 live cartridges from unlicensed individuals.

    Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Kabiru told reporters that the recovery was in compliance with directives of Inspector General of Police (IG) Ibrahim Idris to mop up prohibited firearms.

    He said: “The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on February 22, directed Commissioners of Police to begin the recovery of prohibited firearms in the country.

    “In compliance to that directive, the illegal arms and ammunition we have recovered from individuals in the state inlcude 13 AK-47 rifles, one scrap machine gun, six locally-made double barrel rifles and eight locally-made single barrel rifles.

    “Others are one pump action gun, one locally-made pistol, 650 live ammunition and 32 live cartridges.”

    Kabiru reiterated that the command remained resolute in combating crime and criminality in the state.

    “People should go about their lawful businesses without fear, but should not hesitate to give useful information to the police, after all, security is everybody’s business,” he said.

  • I sold 100 AK-47 rifles, says suspected robber

    I sold 100 AK-47 rifles, says suspected robber

    A suspected robber yesterday denied the police claim of selling over 200 AK-47 rifles to militants and robbers, putting the figure at 100.

    Andrew Moukwe and three others were paraded yesterday at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja by Lagos State Police Commissioner Kayode Aderanti.

    Aderanti told reporters that Moukwe confessed to have sold over 200 AK-47 rifles smuggled from Mali to robbers and militants in Anambra, Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Enugu and Lagos States.

    Others are Christopher Edwin, 42, Peter Onyeale, 37 and Okpara Reginald, 30.

    Four others, Edet Ekuno, 32, Sunday Samiga, 24, Hope Edet Okon, 27 and Unagbon Isaiah, 31, were paraded for alleged kidnapping and possessing two locally made pistols and 18 live cartridges.

    Briefing reporters before the suspects were paraded, the Commissioner of Police Aderanti said the suspected kidnappers were nabbed on March 7, at a hotel at Ojodu Berger, while they were planning to abduct a Lagos businessman.

    Aderanti said Moukwe led Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives back to Onitsha in Anambra State where one Christopher Edwin was arrested and three AK47 rifles with serial numbers AB256591, VL420219 and AXA 17  recovered.

    The police chief added: “He further led SARS team to Rivers State were Peter Onyeale and Okpara Reginald were arrested and four English pistols, two Baretta pistols with serial numbers 148847 and 682404 as well as two Brownie pistols with serial numbers 42649 and 1137366 were all recovered.

    “Detectives have embarked on intensive combing in Bayelsa, Enugu and Abia states to fish out the remaining gang members who have gone underground after hearing of the arrest of Moukwe. Meanwhile efforts to arrest the remaining buyers and recover the arms continue,” the Commissioner said.

    But, Moukwe told reporters that he did not sell up to 200 AK-47, saying: “It is not true that I have sold up to 209 AK47.  I have sold about 100 AK47 rifles and I do not sell to armed robbers or militants.  I sell to people I know who also know that I sell weapons.

    “I usually buy from Ibadan. The people who supply it to me bring them to Onitsha when I call them on phone. I have a shop in the main market but there is nothing in the shop. When they come to buy, I usually ask them what they want to do with it. Some of them say they use it for inter – communal conflicts like those from Aguleri, others say they have oil and want to protect their oil.

    “I buy the weapons at N350, 000 and sell for N400, 000 each. I used the money to train my children and to buy two cars. I did not know it was illegal to trade in arms without license until recently.

    “When I knew, I went to confession and the priest told me to do penance and stop the illegal business. It was in the course of the penance that I was arrested and so, I took the police to the people I sold the weapons to.”

    “Samiga, one of the suspected kidnappers, said he was caught because the charm given to him by a herbalist in Cotonou, Benin Republic, failed.

    His fellow suspect, Ekuno (32), who could not stand without assistance, said he started kidnapping in 2010 in Akwa Ibom, where he made about N800, 000.

    The suspect, who claimed to be an engineering student of the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, said he was lured into kidnapping because he needed money to invest in his late father’s poultry business.

    In a related development, a re-arrested robbery suspect, Collins Ebong, yesterday promised to transform the economy if he survives his predicament.

    Ebong, who was arrested barely 24 hours after he was released from Ikoyi Prison where he had awaited trial for 10 months, was nabbed by the Police in the Ajah for allegedly robbing bank customers with a toy gun.

    Ebong, 26, was said to have ambushed customers at Zenith Bank, Ajah, last week with his conspirator identified as Wale (a.k.a. Walata) currently at large.

    While being paraded by Aderanti, the suspect asked reporters if he would be killed.

    “Will police kill me? See how CP is parading us.  If I am released, I will not rob again. If I survive I will transform Nigeria’s bad economy. I will tell youths to abhor crime because it does not pay,”

     

  • Gunmen steal 25 rifles from police station

    Gunmen steal 25 rifles from police station

    Gunmen have stolen 25 rifles from a police station in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

    It was learnt that the hoodlums attacked 12 policemen on duty and stole the weapons from the armoury.

    A source in Onna, who did not want to be named, said: “I was sleeping when I was woken up by a loud noise, which lasted for almost an hour. It was in the morning that we learnt that armed robbers invaded the police station and stole 25 rifles.”

    It was learnt that 11 of the 12 policemen on duty had been taken to Abuja for interrogation. The 12th policeman, a driver, was exempted because he is not qualified to hold a gun.

    Another source, who pleaded for anonymity, said the divisional police officer, a woman, had been demoted and transferred.

    Deputy Commissioner of Police Posi Ajuwa, who has been overseeing the command since the Commissioner, Umar Gwadabe, retired, could not be reached for comments.

    However, police spokesman Etim Dickson said no station was attacked.

    He said: “It is false. Disregard it. No rifle was stolen by anybody. I am not aware of what you are talking about.”

     

  • Caught napping

    Caught napping

    •Boko Haram attack on Borno military base undermined the gains of state of emergency

    Ironically, the eruption of grand-scale terrorist violence in Borno State, so soon after the presidency in November extended emergency rule by another six months, was a devastating blow against the military, the very organisation with the responsibility of quelling the insurgency. It is disturbing that the attack could be an ominous sign of what to expect during the new round of emergency, for if the Boko Haram militants could so audaciously and successfully target military locations, then the already terrorised civilian population could be in for worse times.

    It is a measure of the turbulence, which also disrupted activities at the Maiduguri International Airport, that the state government imposed a 24-hour curfew, compounding the emergency. Equally revealing of the urgent situation is the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan held an unscheduled crisis-management meeting with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa. However, it is important to stress that while such a security meeting may be useful, the situation gravely requires more of effective action than talk.

    Just what the Islamist fighters did, through a pre-dawn offensive, to reinforce the climate of fear, not only in Borno, but also in Adamawa and Yobe states, which are equally under emergency rule initially imposed in May, was authoritatively depicted by the Defence Headquarters. According to a statement by its spokesman, Brig-Gen Chris Olukolade, “Military locations, such as Nigerian Air Force Base and some Nigerian Army locations in Maiduguri, were targeted during the attack. Three decommissioned military aircraft as well as two helicopters were incapacitated in the course of the attack. Two Air Force personnel were also wounded while 24 insurgents died during the exchange of gunfire.”

    However, it is noteworthy that eye-witness accounts by residents painted a broader picture of the destruction, saying that the attack was carried out by hundreds of heavily armed militants who destroyed buildings at the base of 79 Composite Group of the Air Force and at the 33rd Artillery regiment barracks of the Army, and that shops and petrol stations were also razed while women and children screamed in horror. It is instructive that a local government official who survived the onslaught said, “Frankly speaking, if the insurgents had wanted, they could have killed all of us…because they came in large numbers …some with explosives, some with rocket-propelled grenades and some with AK-47 rifles.”

    Intriguingly, there are speculations as to the  possible reasons for this latest expression of bestiality by Boko Haram, perhaps suggesting, rather strangely, that the group’s narrow-minded rejection of Western education and unrealistic campaign for Islamisation of the country were not enough to prompt the mindless mayhem. Doubtless, seeking other justification for the violence is to forget inexcusably that the group has been responsible for thousands of deaths since it emerged in 2009 to promote unyielding fundamentalism.  It is said that the factors behind these fresh acts of terrorism allegedly include the recent military capture of a key commander of the group and the need to fight back in the context of continual air raids by the military to dislodge the rebels. Thinking about the immediate causes of the recent aggression is of little consequence.  The basic fact is that this is a group devoted to destruction; and it must be stopped.

    Certainly, it is worrying that, once again, the episode reflects a failure of intelligence, which cannot be downplayed. It is difficult to imagine the penetration of such security-related areas without wondering how the military was caught napping.  If emergency rule is to achieve the desired result, the role of effective intelligence is key.  Apparently, given the fact that the group remains well-armed, it stands to reason that it must have powerful backers, and central to intelligence is the uncovering of the sources of its weapons. Additionally, one-in-a-while surprise attacks like the last one, designed to achieve maximum impact, may just suggest that the group is re-strategising. It must not be allowed to succeed.