A mild drama played out on Tuesday at the Abuja
office of the operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special
Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
A suspected gunrunner, Gbenga Ojomo Adebowale, who
was in detention, heard operatives discussing about the killings of their men
and how suspected kidnap kingpin Hamisu Wadume was at the centre of the storm.
When Adebowale heard the name, something jugged his
memory and he remembered that he had encountered someone with that name.
When he asked more questions from IRT operatives and
checked out the pictures of Wadume, he confirmed that it was the same brazen
young man he supplied six AK47rifles and four cartons of ammunition just April
this year in Benue State. Adebowale, who said that it was not his business to
probe clients, who buy guns from him, on what they needed them for, recollected
that one of his partners, Moses, told him that Wadume had explained that his
frequent demands of rifles and ammunition were to confront herdsmen attacking
his community. Adebowale denied knowing that Wadume, who appeared to have
disappeared into thin air presently, was an alleged multi-millionaire suspected
kidnap kingpin.
Adebowale said: “Our arms come from Burkinafaso and
Ghana. Sometimes, about four or five years ago, I went to supply goods. The
connection for the supply came from Moses. He said that the final destination
was Markudi in Benue State. We used to create compartment in trucks, where we
concealed the arms and ammunition, making it difficult for security agents to
detect.
“When we got to Benue State, Moses introduced me to four
men, including Julius and Hamisu. Back then, I thought Hamisu was from Benue
State. But the other men with him were from Tiv. In mafia business, we don’t
really interact with our customers. After that encounter, Moses and I started
going to Benue State to meet Julius and Denise, to supply weapons.”
Adebowale, who was arrested sometimes in June, disclosed
that his gang imports the arms and ammunition from North Africa through Burkina
Faso, Ghana and Benin Republic to Shaki in Oyo state.
He said that the police seized 6,000 live ammunition
from him, and his gang. He also explained that each box of ammunition contains
750 rounds and sold for N300, 000. The AF 47 rifles, depending on the grades, were
sold between N600,000 and N900,000 per carton.
Adebowale, 45, who is married with children,
confessed that he had been in gunrunning business for 15 years and was based in
Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking with New Telegraph yesterday, he said: “I
have a contact from Onitsha called Moses. He is a partner. While I’m based in
Ibadan, Moses is based in Onitsha. We used to exchange goods. If he has, he would
give me, if he didn’t have, I would give him.
“In 2016, I started having problem and had to travel
out of the country. I returned last year. Early this year, a private number
called me, the person asked if I had heard that one of our partners, Denise had
been killed. I asked who was calling, he said Hamisu. I remembered that he was
the fourth guy with us on that day at Benue.
“Denise was also our partner there. He explained to
me how Denise was killed and asked for 10 AK47 rifles. I told him that I didn’t
have up to 10 rifles with me at that moment. I told him that someone promised
to enter Nigeria the following day with six AK47 rifles and four boxes of
ammunition. I wanted us to meet at Onitsha, but he insisted that I should come
to Benue. I asked him to pay N800, 000 for each of the rifle, and he accepted.
I went to Benue in April with six AK47 rifle and four cartons of ammunition to
give to him.”
Adebowale continued: “I later heard that Abba Kyari and
men were hunting for me. I started switching off my phones and running
helter-skelter, but they eventually arrested me.”
Asked if he asked Wadume his reasons for always
demanding for guns and ammunition, Adebowale said that it was Denise and Moses
that had the connection to Wadume and had been doing the supply. He only had to
supply directly to Wadume following the death of Denise.
He added: “I didn’t want to probe too much on what
Hamisu uses the guns for. He is Moses customer, not mine. But I heard that they
were buying the guns because herdsmen were seriously troubling them. They were
tired of the attacks and were ready to confront the herdsmen, hence they the several
guns they were stockpiling. When they
were saying this, I thought they were from Benue State. It was later I got to
know that Hamisu was from Taraba. I know him only as a don, I didn’t know
anything other than that about him. Those of us in gunrunning business are
called don. Don simply means ‘mafia.’ When I heard about how the policemen were
killed, I felt bad. I supplied Hamisu guns. At least 70 percent of us in
gunrunning business in Nigeria are graduates.”
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