Three persons, including a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abu Haruna and a corporal, have been arrested in the Nsukka part of Enugu State in South East Nigeria, for illegal trafficking in fire arms and ammunition.

The arrest came at the time Nigeria is witnessing acute activity of insurgents especially in the North Eastern part. The third suspect, Onuwa Attaka, is the driver of the arms-laden vehicle. It was gathered that their confession showed alleged involvement in supplying of arms to insurgents in the Northern Nigeria.

The three suspects, who were heading to the North from Imo State, were intercepted in Nsukka by officers and men of the Nigerian Army while traveling in a bus. Items recovered from them include- 40 AK47 magazines, 4 boxes of AK47 live ammunition, 100 pieces of live cartridges, one piece of Denim Mopol khaki and charms concealed in a cap.

One of the army officers who spoke to newsmen under anonymity disclosed that a police corporal serving in Imo State Police Command was also involved in the arms running trade. He said, “When we asked the occupants of the vehicle to come down, we discovered a police corporal in uniform among them.

The corporal on getting down pretended to be pressed; he later ran away”, he said. It was gathered that the suspects were later taken to Nsukka Police Division before their transfer to the state CID. The retired DSP, Abu Haruna, confessed that he had been in the business of arms dealing since he retired from the police.

He said their mission was to supply the ammunition to their buyer in Taraba State. Our source said Haruna further confessed that they decided to go on the supply after the buyer complained that the first batch was incomplete. The Police corporal’s identity has been traced to Imo State Police command; his name was simply given as Solomon, even as efforts are still being made to effect his arrest.

Meanwhile, the Nsukka Police Area Commander, ASP. Ros-Amson Haladu has praised the gallantry of the soldiers in combating crimes in the area.

“I want to commend the Army Officers for their vigilance in tracking down these illegal arms dealers. “At the same time, I warn criminals to leave this vicinity or risk being apprehended by security operatives”, he said.

Recently, the Nigerian Military lamented the influx of illegal aliens, arms, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) materials into Nigeria through porous borders saying they posed serious challenge to its effort to combat terrorism.

According to them, most arms and ammunition brought into the country were through Malian and Libyan rebels who were desperate to exchange arms for money.

“The overwhelming challenge of the influx of illegal aliens, arms, ammunition and sophisticated IED materials into the country, hinders efficient and effective fight against terrorism,’’ it said.

“Security agencies at the borders and seaports have complained of the porosity of the nation’s border and water ways.

“Consequently, most of the borders are leaky and this makes effective control of intruders, smugglers and merchants of deaths, a mirage,’’ it added.

This statement by the military is one of the numerous voices that have raised concerns over the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in West Africa and its attendant negative implication on Nigeria.

While $18billion is being spent on conflicts in Africa, West Africa accounts for about 8 million out of the 100 million small arms currently in circulation in the continent.

Added to that is the fact that Nigeria accounts for over 70 percent of illegal small arms and light weapons (SALW) circulating within the West African sub-region.

With the grim reality of being “both a producer and consumer of SALW in the West African sub-region.” It has become very difficult to determine the exact quantity of illegal SALW circulating within or coming into the country.

According to Major General Shehu Abdulkadir of the Nigerian Army, “approximately 500 million illicit weapons were in circulation worldwide in 2013, it was estimated that about 100 million are in sub-Saharan Africa, with eight to 10 million concentrated in the West African sub-region. Regrettably, more than half of these Small Arms and Light Weapons are in the hands of non-state actors and criminal groups.”

This equally grim revelation does not bode well especially at this critical time when Nigeria is experiencing serious security challenges.

The implication of these is the continued rise in the wave of crime and criminality in the country. In Africa, the proliferation of small arms is increasing in proportion. These small arms being the remnants of conflicts in Mozambique, Angola, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, Sierra Leone etc. as well as licensed weapons being stolen or lost, have played a major role in exacerbating crimes and armed violence in Nigeria. The danger in the proliferation of these weapons is that they have fallen into the hands of non-state actors such as Boko Haram insurgents and criminal elements who still masquerade themselves as Niger Delta militants.