When bush meat trader became guns dealer

A 47-year-old man who sells bush meat, Fatai Tiamiyu, has been arrested for being in possession of 10 locally-made single-barrel guns, through the combined efforts of the police and vigilance group members in Saki, Oyo State. The guns, said to be have been brought in from one of the neighbouring Francophone countries, were reportedly concealed in a sack containing charcoal.
Tiamiyu, suspected to be a courier, and another man, Abdulraman Babatunde, who is said to be a friend to the principal suspect, simply called Abdulahi, are currently with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Oyo where they are being interrogated while the SARS operatives are on the trail of the suspect at large who is said to have escaped to a neighbouring country.
Crime Reports learnt that Tiamiyu was stopped by members of the vigilance group on Thursday,April 25 along Saki-Sepeteri Road.
Immediately the guns were discovered in the sack he was carrying on his motorcycle, the head of the vigilance group reportedly alerted the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Saki Division, Mohammed Suleiman Babatunde, a Superintendent of Police. The DPO was said to have moved to the scene with his patrol team and arrested Tiamiyu, while the guns were recovered as exhibits.
Detectives were said to have gone to the principal suspect’s village at Imodi via Sepeteri, where they also arrested Babatunde whom Tiamiyu pointed as Abdulahi’s friend. The case was immediately transferred to the police headquarters in Ibadan where the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Indabawa ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation for further investigations.
However, Tiamiyu denied being part of gun-running business, saying that it was a client of his who asked him to help in bringing the sack to his village, unknown to him that the sack contained such illegal and dangerous weapons.
 According to Tiamiyu, “I trade in bush meat and I used to go from community to community to buy the meat from hunters. I was at home this morning when Abdulahi called me that he had a sack containing some items that he would want me to bring to him from Saki to his community called Imodi in Sepeteri, Saki East Local Government. I knew Abdulahi as a hunter and I used to buy bush meat from his settlement.
“Two men were brought to my house by one John and I followed them to Isale Oke area where they said the sack was. I have never seen those men and from their looks and language, they must have come from a French-speaking country. They did not understand Yoruba language, they spoke in French.
“When we got there, they showed me a sack of charcoal, so I carried it thinking it was charcoal. On my way back home to prepare for Imodi, the sack burst, revealing locally-made barrel guns which were neatly concealed in the charcoal.
“Immediately, I called Abdulahi and informed him of my discovery. To my surprise, he confirmed the content, asking me to just bring them along to Imodi. I took a sack which I usually use to pack the bush meat I sell, put the guns inside it and tied it. I proceeded to Imodi but on  my way, I met the local vigilance group along Saki-Sepeteri Road. They demanded to know the content of the sack and I told them they were guns. I also added that I was taking it to one of the hunters at Imodi.
“One of them however told me that he would have let me off if it had been just one gun, which could be assumed to be for one hunter, adding that the number raised suspicion on what they were meant for.  I called Abdulahi and the head of Sepeteri hunters called Baba Ogunyale, asking them to come because of the problem I was facing over the sack I was told to bring to their community.
“I called Abdulahi again and while we were speaking, the second suspect, Babatunde, took the phone from him and asked me to explain to him. I repeated what I said to him.
Baba Ogunyale came to the spot but by that time, policemen from Saki, led by their DPO had arrived and he was arrested.  I was also arrested along with him”.
Babatunde also denied knowledge of what transpired between Tiamiyu and Abdulahi. “I don’t know anything about the guns.
Yesterday, I went to Sepeteri to treat the wound I sustained from motorcycle accident. I met Baba Ogunyale and we exchanged greetings. In the process, Baba Ogunyale received a call from from Tiamiyu.
“Because of hearing problem, Baba Ogunyale could not pick what Tiamiyu was saying so he asked me to speak with Tiamiyu on his behalf. Tiamyu then told me to tell Baba Omiyale that his tyre had been shot. Baba Omiyale left to trace him and I went back to my village. That was how I met the police with my mother. I saw Tiamiyu in the police van and he was the one who pointed at me and told the police that I should know Abdulahi’s whereabouts. I never saw Abdulahi so I couldn’t  have spoken with Tiamyu while with him,” he explained.
The Oyo police commissioner, Indabawa, confirmed the story when he was contacted by Crime Reports, promising that his men would investigate the source of the guns and bring those involved to book.
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