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Terrorists operating in the North-West and across the country recently affirmed that they were now better armed to accomplish their caliphate mission in Nigeria, when they fired near Dutsinma town, Katsina State, on President Muhammadu Buhari’s advance convoy deployed ahead of his trip to Daura in the state. The attack reportedly occurred on the day an Assistant Commissioner of Police (APC), Aminu Umar Dayi, in charge of Dutsinma Area Command, in Katsina, was ambushed and killed by the terrorists, numbering over 300 on motor cycles, shooting sporadically with AK-47 rifles and General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs).     Â
In far away Abuja, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist group attacked Kuje Medium Security Custodial Center and reportedly freed 879 inmates including Boko Haram terrorists. The Federal Government said the attack and subsequent jailbreak were only possible because the terrorists were wielding superior weapons. Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, noted that what equally helped the terrorists was their great number, so they overwhelmed the military men on duty. While the terrorists were rejoicing over their breach of the Kuje Correctional facility, another group of terrorists in Kogi State shot through the private home of an officer with the Naval Headquarters Abuja and abducted him. Meanwhile the entire Umunneochi Council in Abia State is currently under the siege of terrorist herdsmen. Since the abduction of Most Rev Sam Uche, the Prelate of Methodist Church of Nigeria in the local council, kidnapping, shooting of travellers have increased in the area. In Bauchi State, the governor, Bala Mohammed, is lamenting that terrorists are trying to overwhelm the state as his people now live in fear. These terrorists have increasingly become emboldened in their attacks because of their superior arms and ammunition that are mainly smuggled to them from all parts of the world through our airports, seaports and porous borders.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has continued to intercept thousands of fire arms in the last five years across the country. On one occasion, a 40ft container with 980 rounds of 9mm type live ammunition and pistols imported into the country from the United States was intercepted in Agbara, Ogun State. According to data from NCS, three unmanned aerial vehicle drones were intercepted at the Lagos airport and two fighter jet helicopters were equally intercepted at the same airport a month later.
The Comptroller of the NCS in Buhari’s home state of Katsina, Wada Chedi, recently said that the state had 12 official borders and more than 100 unofficial exit and entry routes which smugglers exploited to bring in contrabands. And there are 1,499 illegal routes and only 84 official entry and exit points across the entire country. He revealed that “some desperate smugglers in Katsina State go to the extent of collaborating with bandits, whereby we used to have a lot of attacks and record casualties.”
It is now clear to all that Nigeria is a major market for international arms smugglers since the Al-Shabaab terrorist group has reportedly been funding Al-Queda affiliates, namely Boko Haram and ISWAP in Nigeria. The International Centre For Investigative Reporting (ICIR) has confirmed that fire arms used by armed groups in the country are smuggled from Turkey, Libya, and other countries in Europe. With the war in Ukraine, illegal arms business is now booming and terrorists are grabbing the opportunity with both hands. Military grade weapons including various types of automatic rifles and small arms made in the United States now in Ukraine are reportedly being sold to international buyers through the encrypted messaging app. Weapons said to be on sale include not just Ukrainian-origin arms such as the old Soviet-era AK-47 rifles, but also American-made M16 and M14 rifles manufactured along with other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member-origin firearms such as ARX160A1 by the Italian company, Beretta. In fact, a Canadian NGO, Project Ploughshares, warned earlier this year of the possibility that arms from the west could end up on the black market. The researcher, Kelsey Gallagher, points out that there is a “real threat that the Ukrainian government can potentially not control all these weapons.”
Frankly speaking, the illegal arms trade often goes along the same routes as the illegal drug trade. The Area Comptroller of the Tin Can Island Command, Abdullahi Musa, disclosed in September, 2021 that the Customs intercepted not just arms and ammunition but 43.110 Kg of cocaine and thousands of bottles of Barcadine brand of codeine among others. A recent report from SB Morgan Intelligence revealed that proliferation of small arms and dangerous ammunition has continued to increase the rate of violence and insecurity in Nigeria. The report published in October, 2020 said “the number of small arms in circulation in the hands of civilian non-state actors is estimated at 6,145,000, while the armed forces and law enforcement agencies collectively account for 586,600 firearms.” Small wonder terrorists have grown wings in the country, kidnapping and killing innocent Nigerians, invading churches, mosques, prison yards and subduing our armed forces with their superior weapons and ever-growing number.
The government must rise to the occasion by ensuring good governance to break the wings of the rampaging terrorists in the country, and tightening our porous land and seaports to not only check their entry into the country, but to check those who smuggle arms to them to achieve their caliphate mission.
*Umuaku writes from Umunze, Anambra State
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Independent Newspapers Limited, registered on July 17, 2001 (RC No: 419927), commenced publication on October 1, 2001. With registered office at 8, WEMPCO Road, Ogba, Ikeja, it publishes INDEPENDENT, Monday - Friday, Saturday Independent, Sunday Independent, independent.ng, TV Independent on YouTube and IndependentNgr (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram).
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