The suspected illegal arms dealers after their arrest yesterday along Bauchi-Jos road by the NDLEA.
Two suspects in possession of 1,360 rounds of live ammunition of 7.6mm calibre have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Bauchi State Command.
The suspects were arrested during a motorized patrol along Bauchi-Jos Road.
The two suspects with the ammunition were arrested in a commercial car during a motorized patrol along Bauchi-Jos Road while on their way to Jos, Plateau
The spokesman of the NDLEA, Jonah Achema, said on Wednesday in Abuja that one AK-47 magazine was also found in the vehicle.
“Upon interrogation, two of the passengers, Dung Bulus Rwang and Dachollum Yohanna admitted ownership of the ammunition and magazine which they neatly concealed in two sacks and kept in the boot of the vehicle,” Achema said.
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He said the suspects said they were transporting the consignments from Numan in Adamawa State to certain buyers in Plateau State and that they were unable to produce any official permit for the items.
He said the two suspects confessed that they had been in the business of illegal arms dealing for a period of time.
According to them each of the ammunition was to be sold for ₦500 only, Achema added. “It is a business for us.
Things are really hard in this country and we need to sell these items so that we can put food on the table for our families”, Achema quoted one of the suspects, Yohanna as saying.
Speaking on the matter, Segun Kolawole Oke, the NDLEA Bauchi State Commander, said the suspects and exhibits would be handed over to the Bauchi State Police Command for further investigation.
Oke said, “The origin of the arms and the destination are both areas with rampant misuse of weapons. We, therefore, cannot take this issue of arms trafficking lightly.”